My goodness! Time sure does fly when you are having fun! We are already approaching the end of the year.

So much has happened this past year: A year ago, in December, I was offered the job as director of the Robeson County Public Library system to replace Bob Fisher when he retired.

I scrambled to find a place to live, and with the gracious help of Linda Metzger and B.G. French, I was able to find a home. My boys and I moved to Lumberton near the end of January. I started working at the library at the beginning of February. Bob graciously stayed on at the library for the full month of February, introducing me around to the county manager, city manager, town managers, mayors, county, city and town councilmen, senators, Rep. Mike McIntyre, and other movers-and-shakers in Robeson County.

During this past year I have met so many wonderful people, some of whom I can truly call my friends.

Bob retired at the end of February with a huge retirement party given by the Friends of the Library and the Library Board. So many people came out to honor Bob.

Since Bob has retired, he has received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the North Carolina Library Directors Association, and was the grand marshal of the Christmas parade. His shoes are very large, indeed, and I will constantly try to fill them during my tenure as director of this wonderful library system.

During my time so far, the library has seen some changes. All of the library locations across the county have new computers that were purchased by the Gates Foundation Grant. The special projects coordinator has contacted authors and publishers all over the world, resulting in donations of 4,928 new books this year.

The library collaborates with other organizations within the community to provide more free services at the patrons’ convenience. For instance, a representative comes from the Employment Security Commission every other Tuesday from 3 to 5 p.m. to help people who are looking for jobs, need help with filling out job applications, or need help writing their resume.

The library has also collaborated with the Carolina Civic Center to provide new and exciting programs such as artist/author receptions and talks, and bringing the movie to life with actors. We have Jill McCorkle coming in January for a movie/author talk to be held at the Carolina Civic Center. There are ongoing discussions of possible future collaborations as well.

The library system has also had several community members and businesses as well as nonprofits help the library this year.

We have had 157 local people donate books to the library. We have had more than 30 local businesses and community members give either monetary or other items to the children’s staff for books and prizes needed for children’s programs. The library has also been the recipient of several memorials given in remembrance of or in honor of someone in the community.

This community has been wonderful in remembering the library during these hard economic times!

Please note the library will be closed New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, but will reopen Jan. 2.

The library staff would like to wish the Robeson County community a wonderful, happy New Year! I can’t wait to see what is in store for us this next year!

Tina Stepp is the director of the Robeson County Public Library and can be reached at (910) 738-4859 or tstepp@robesoncountylibrary.org.