Fair Haven Library Director To Retire After Nearly 30 Years

FAIR HAVEN, NJ — The sign-off quote on Donna Powers' email is certainly fitting for a library director:

“The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man,” the quote from poet T.S. Eliot reads.

And Powers says she is a big fan of libraries and the role they play in society.

"Libraries are very important to me - and the public," she said. "They are the last bastion of free information."

Powers is retiring Oct. 1 after nearly 30 years at the library, she confirmed. She said she started part time in 1994 and then worked full time starting in 1999. She was a library assistant until 2001, when she became director.

The Fair Haven Library is in the Borough Hall on River Road, and Powers lived in Fair Haven most of the years she worked there, from the time her youngest child went to school, she said.

Fair Haven's library is managed by the borough, although it also is a member of the Monmouth County Library system so patrons can order books and other materials from the county collections, Borough Clerk Allyson Cinquegrana confirmed. It is not an official branch of the county system.

The borough has posted the job opening to be created when Powers retires - and it's a pretty big bookshelf for potential candidates to fill. Applications are due by Aug. 21.

The job is for 20 to 25 hours a week and includes an ability to possess a strategic vision for long-term goals, as well as the ability to handle the day-to-day management of the library and assisting in budgeting and grants-seeking, according to the posting.

For Powers, the time is soon coming for other pursuits.

"It has been a great adventure and I shall miss all our patrons - and especially my terrific co-workers. I plan on travelling with my husband and spending a lot of time with our two grandsons," she said.