Swan Valley Librarian Retires after More Than 30 Years

SWAN VALLEY - Fern Kauffman is starting a new chapter after working for the Swan Valley Library for more than 30 years. Kauffman has seen many changes in her tenure. Her biggest joy has been her love of helping patrons find the information they were looking for, whether in a book or on the Internet.

The Swan Valley Library opened in 1979. The community built and maintained the building. They were the first branch library with Missoula County Public Library (MCPL).

"We are so far from everything else. Many in the community felt it was very important to have a library," said Kauffman.

Volunteers operated it for three years until Susie Cox was hired as the librarian. Kauffman worked as an assistant to Susie Cox for six years before becoming the librarian in May 1989.

Kauffman worked at her high school library when she attended school and helped update the card catalog after she graduated. She has always loved to read and encourage others to do the same.

"We were there [in the Swan Valley] since 1970. When Susie Cox needed [an assistant], I was already there helping her," said Kauffman. "When [Cox] left, our son was graduating from high school so it was just a natural transition."

Kauffman remembers when books were checked out with a card in the front of the book. The librarian would record the borrower's name on the card and keep it until the book was returned.

"The first big change was when we couldn't put the person's name on the card anymore because everyone else could see who had checked out the book," said Kauffman.

To solve the privacy issue, everyone in the Swan Valley was given a number that was put on the card and kept on file.

The transition to computers was the biggest change for Kauffman. When they initially went to electronic checkout using barcodes, Kauffman was told to connect with the MCPL online once per day and enter in all books checked out.

"I told them it is too easy to reverse numbers. I can't sit there for a half hour or more and key in numbers," said Kauffman.

Once DSL was available in the Swan Valley, the MCPL authorized the library to connect to it. Kauffman said they were the first organization in the valley to have DSL. Now they have four computers and offer Wi-Fi in and outside of the library.

"I was going to quit right about then. I was not going to learn all this computer stuff," said Kauffman and laughed. However after taking a class in Missoula, she quickly picked it up and was able to help others learn the new system.

Kauffman has indexed death, marriage, engagement and birth announcements from the Seeley Swan Pathfinder. She started archived obituaries of Swan Valley residents after a patron gave her an envelope of obituaries that he had been saving.

She collects most of the obituaries from the Seeley Swan Pathfinder and Missoulian. Occasionally she is sent one that ran in other papers around the state. She looks forward to continuing this work for the community.

Kauffman retired Sept. 12 because, she said, "It is about time." She will still work as the assistant with new librarian Colleen Kesterson.

Kauffman is looking forward to having more time to catch up on cataloging donations at the Swan Valley Museum in her role as secretary with the USVHS, travelling and camping with her husband Nathan and continuing her work on the First Families of Montana project with the Montana Genealogical Society.

The library is open Mondays and Fridays from 10:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Wednesdays from 10:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.