STANWOOD – Bonnie Thielke calls herself a “library nerd.”
A retired school principal, Thielke grew up with a passion for libraries and now spends her Thursday mornings volunteering at the Stanwood Library.
There she shelves returned materials and continues her lifelong appreciation for books, librarians and the community connection that libraries provide.
“I love this little library,” she said. “It’s a huge community resource and does so much more than provide books for patrons to check out.” Story hours for children and visits by authors are just some of the ways the library reaches out to the community, she said.
As a girl growing up in Detroit, Thielke hung out at and volunteered in the libraries at her junior high and high schools. Later, Thielke, now 64, put herself through college working in the education library at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.
“I knew that library inside out and backward and spent all my free time there,” said Thielke, who even named her dog after her favorite college librarian, Dorothea Arnold.
Armed with an education degree, Thielke left Michigan and moved west to California to teach sixth grade. That’s where she met her husband, Darryl, a native of Eastern Washington. They raised their children in Yakima, and she earned her master’s degree in education and administrative credentials at Central Washington University.
“If Central had offered a master’s in library science at the time, I would have done that instead,” she said.
The Thielkes moved to Arlington when Bonnie found a job as a counselor and administrator there. When the Arlington School District decided to build Kent Prairie Elementary School, Thielke was selected to be its principal. She had a hand in planning the new building, and the library in the school was an important part of the design, she said. After 15 years leading the school, Thielke retired in June 2005.
Now a resident of Kayak Heights, south of Warm Beach, she continues to substitute for principals in the area and is a mentor for new teachers in the Arlington district. But wanting to “give back to the community,” Thielke decided to do some volunteer work, too. The local library was the logical place.
“My education career was never a 9-to-5 job,” Thielke said. “I enjoy the quiet atmosphere and the behind-the-scenes nature of my volunteer work.”
Shelving, recycling and other activities done by Thielke give library staff the time to help library patrons.
“The librarians help people with all sorts of new directions,” she said. “It’s fun to see the elderly patrons get help using computers and heartwarming to see the preschoolers being read to. I imagine I get more out of volunteering than the staff gets out of my services.”
Not so, said library volunteer coordinator Stacey McKinley.
“Bonnie is helping the library tremendously,” McKinley said. “She’s vivacious and enthusiastic about her jobs here.”
Thielke also has joined the Stanwood children’s librarian on trips to area schools to get new readers to visit the public library.
“I want to continue to be a part of encouraging young people to love libraries as much as I do,” she said.
And you don’t have to be a nerd to do that.
Reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427 or gfiege@heraldnet.com.
Lend a hand
Volunteers are needed at the Stanwood Library, part of the Sno-Isle Regional Libraries. For an interview, call volunteer coordinator Stacey McKinley at 360-629-3132. Because volunteers work with children, they also must pass a background check.
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