After 31 Years Under Risinger, New Librarian Hired In Orchard

For 31 years, Linda Risinger has taken care of the Orchard Public Library as the Library Director, helping it grow and bringing it into the the digital age.

Soon, however, library patrons will see a new face when they walk in.

Starting in September, Donna Hamilton will take over as the Library Director.

A member of the Library Foundation since its inception in 1996, Hamilton has been a friend and patron of the library for many years. Becoming the Library Director seems like the next natural step for her.

“Linda said a while back that she was going to think about retiring,” recounted Hamilton, “and I thought, ‘Huh!’ in the back of my mind and just kind of started considering it.”

As an avid reader from a young age, Hamilton fits right into library culture. However, she isn’t planning on making any changes until she figures out the ropes.

“I will continue as Linda has done until I get my feet under me to know what’s what,” said Donna. Laughing, she added that she’ll probably have “linda’s phone number on speed dial.”

As for Risinger, she’s dedicated a lot of her time over the years to helping the library grow.

There have been a lot of changes over the years,” said Risinger. “Probably the best thing that we did was to get a library foundation going.”

The Library Foundation has been instrumental in much of the progress that has happened over the years, including the addition of the big meeting room, remodelling the bathroom, and, most recently, replacing the lighting.

At the helm of all that change was Risinger.

“Linda has been very instrumental in doing that (finding library funding), because if there was a grant out there she was the one to find it and bring it to the foundation,” explained Hamilton.

More than writing grants to bring improvements to the library, Risinger says she’ll miss the simple joys of being a librarian.

Her favorite part of being a librarian was getting new books in. Risinger smiled as she talked about getting new books in. “It’s like Christmas!” she said. “The summer reading programs and the story times are a fun as well.”