Sandra Shaw retiring as director of Community Free Library in Holley
Photos by Tom Rivers
HOLLEY – Sandra Shaw is shown inside the children’s library at Community Free Library on Saturday. This week is Shaw’s last week working at the library. She is retiring.
A retirement celebration is tentatively planned for Oct. 17.
Shaw has worked as the library director the past 19 years, and was a clerk for seven years before that.
She led the library in acquiring a former video store next door where the library expanded in 2008 and dedicated that space for children’s programs and materials.
“Having a place for children to come in and play is wonderful,” Shaw said.
She also has led the library in adding two large murals on the back side of the brick building. Tony Barry completed a mural about the community’s canal heritage last year, while Arthur Barnes painted a mural of Holley’s agricultural ties this summer. Shaw secured funding from the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council for those projects.
Shaw said she is “happy and sad” as she nears the end of her career in the library.
“We have embraced children and history,” she said.
Sandra Shaw is shown in June 2022 getting ready for a book sale at the library, which also hosted an art show.
Tersha Choy, the library board president, said Shaw has been a great advocate for the library, meeting frequently with many community leaders to promote programs at the site. She secured grants from the state to replace the roof, air-conditioning and furnaces.
She wanted the library accessible and comfortable for community members. During the Covid-19 pandemic when the library was closed to the public, Shaw and the library staff took requests from residents for books, and then had the books ready in the lobby for pickup.
“She has been the heartbeat of the library for more than 20 years,” Choy said. “She has kept the library alive through all sorts of challenges – through Covid and the ups and downs of the economy.”
The board has hired Amanda Anderson, a former clerk at the library, to succeed Shaw as the next director.
Barb Kerns, a long-time board member for the library, said Shaw pushed for the library to connect with the community, running a vibrant summer reading program, an active community Christmas party, and a wine-tasting event to raise money for the children’s program.
On Veterans Day, Shaw has welcomed about 100 people each year who wrote Christmas cards to veterans. That typically totaled about 500 cards.
“The big thing with her has been having the library serve the community,” Kerns said.
