A life at the library

It was the librarian at Pizitz Middle School that gave Lonny Terry his first library job.

“She brought me in and started me shelving and doing things like that in the library. That’s what started it,” Terry said.

That beginning led to a 43-year career at Vestavia Hills’ library, from which Terry is retiring Oct. 1.

After graduating from Vestavia Hills High School in 1974, Terry got a part-time job as a page for the library, then housed in the civic center, while he earned his bachelor and master degrees. That was the second library the city had ever had.

“I’ve worked in three of the four libraries. The first one was in the city jail,” Terry said.

At the time, the Vestavia library was the academic source for most students in Vestavia and Hoover. Terry recalled stacks of reference books that he would help shelve every day, and students taking up every piece of available space.

“You’d come in some days and you’d be stepping over people,” Terry said.

Terry became a full-time employee in 1983 in the cataloging department. He was there to watch the transition from the civic center to the Richard M. Scrushy Public Library in 1995, followed by the move to the Library in the Forest on Montgomery Highway in 2010. Terry also witnessed the shift from an academic reference library to a popular reading and community event space.

There are fewer volumes in the Library in the Forest than its predecessors, Terry said, for several reasons. The internet age has replaced the need to pour through dozens of books with a few clicks of the mouse and a search bar. Plus, Terry said, they uncovered many books that hadn’t been opened in quite some time, including a home economics book from 1965. 

Lastly, the Library in the Forest has more room for tables, study rooms and other spaces. Unlike the “crammed” shelves of the civic center and Scrushy libraries, Terry said today’s Vestavia Library has more square footage devoted to things besides books.

The technology that removed so many volumes from the library’s shelves also made cataloging easier. Terry said when he first started in the job, he had to decide the categories and subject headings for each book before entering them in the card catalog. Now, most of that can be copied and pasted from publishers’ websites. Terry was part of the transition from paper to online records for the library’s collection.

“You didn’t need the skill level that I had to learn to become a cataloger,” Terry said of modern-day cataloging. “I will admit, I’m more a book person than I am reading a book on a screen or tablet.”

In recent years, Terry could most often be found at the library’s front desk, though he also helped with managing some of the building’s maintenance.

Some of the memories that stand out over his 43 years include losing power and, rather than closing the library early, searching for books by flashlight, as well as keeping the library open during the 2014 snowstorm until every child there was picked up by a parent or walked back to the elementary school by teachers.

The staff working alongside Terry has changed over the years, but he said they’ve all shared a commitment toward providing the best public service they could. And each library director he has worked under came with their own challenges, including current Director Taneisha Tucker.

“I’m not a young person anymore. We become a little bit set in our ways,” Terry said. “They forced me to reconsider my thinking and become a little more flexible.”

Terry made the decision to retire so he could spend more time with family. He’s sad to miss upcoming projects like the library makerspace, but he knows “it’s time to go.”

After a lifetime working in Vestavia’s library system, Terry’s reason for staying so long was simple: “They just couldn’t get rid of me. I enjoyed working here.”