By Gregg Wamsley
Checked Out
In many ways, 2026 has felt very long, even though we are just past the 10-month mark. The Hutchinson Public Library has been working through a major remodel of its basement, and the current commercial climate has really played havoc with the schedule (but we are seeing a bright light at the end of this tunnel).
In other ways, the year has flown by. It feels like just a few weeks ago since I stood, nervous and humbled, in front of the crowd at the final Talk20 this past January. For Talk20, I covered some of the history of the Library as a way to begin talking about and celebrating the Library’s 125th anniversary. I talked mostly about the giants on whose shoulders we stand on at the Library. At the risk of showing my bias, Hutchinson is very lucky to have the public library it has. The Library is as large, vibrant, and full of resources as it is because of the wisdom shown by generations of community leaders, staff, and patrons.
Public libraries are among the last places where a community’s residents can simply come and “be” with no expectation of spending money. The Library is a place of calm and of learning and of community building. 125 years is a good start for a library, and I hope there are at least 125 more years to come. As the holiday season barrels toward us and the days grow shorter and colder, the Library is a place you can come to decompress.
I have been the director at the Library for 20 years now—two decades! But that time, too, seems like it has flown by. In that time, just a sixth of the library’s history, we have made some big changes and seen a lot of progress. A library coffee shop came and went, Google failed to replace research when definitive or non-digital answers are needed, CDs and DVDs have faded in favor of streaming media, ebook services have grown to represent 40 percent of our circulation, and in recent years, hands-on learning in our literacy efforts and our Makerspace have steadily grown. Lots of energy is spent keeping up, staying fresh, and trying to ascertain the needs and desires of the community.
That kind of energy is generally reserved for younger leaders. That’s a demographic I left some time ago. We have an outstanding group of younger leaders on staff right now, so it’s a great time for me to pass the date due stamp (you’ll get that joke if you’re in my demographic). I look forward to a time in the next year when I can visit our library and enjoy it from the other side of the reference desk, but I promise not to haunt the library like a certain past director.
Gregg Wamsley is a librarian and director of the Hutchinson Public Library. He can be reached at gregg.w@hutchpl.org.