After 25 years, Wellton librarian retires

After 25 years with the Wellton Library, librarian Janet Moenk is retiring.

Moenk, who lives in Wellton, has done a lot in her tenure with the library district.

She's been a part of the switch from the traditional card catalog to the Internet and through the years, she's helped move the branch from a drafty schoolhouse to a state-of-the-art building.

Then there was the occasional task of wrangling snakes and scorpions - a part of living and working in the desert that Moenk said she can look back and laugh about now.

But it's not just the unexpected that makes Moenk smile. It's the job, the people and the community that she loves so much.

"Every day that I went to work, I laughed. It's a wonderful place to go to work every day.

"I don't think there could be a better job."

In 1984, her youngest daughter started junior high. A stay-at-home mom, Moenk said she wanted to do something to get out of the house and into the community.

When a job opened up at the library, she took it.

"I didn't know what to expect," Moenk said about her first day of work.

Back then, the library was only open eight hours a week and it was in a drafty room at Wellton Elementary School, where it had been since 1960.

The branch moved two more times before settling in May 2008 into the new, state- of-the-art building at 28790 San Jose Ave.

From schoolchildren to winter visitors, Moenk said she's met a lot of interesting and wonderful people through the years.

"It's really enriched my life because I've made some lifelong friends with people I wouldn't have met if I (weren't) working at the library."

Moenk said it was a very hard decision to retire this summer, and it's the people she's going to miss the most.

"It's because of giving up just the constant time with friends and people."

  Through the years, it's not just the library that's changed. Moenk said she's surprised to see how much it's grown.

  Moenk came from Fort Sumner, N.M., to start a life with her husband. They've been married for 42 years, have two daughters and three grandchildren.

  "I've kind of grown up with the community," Moenk said. "It's a wonderful, wonderful place.

  "Wellton is a place where you go to the grocery store and you say hi to everyone there."

  In the future, Moenk said she and her husband, who also plans to retire this summer, will vacation to Pinetop, Ariz., during the summer months and take trips through the West and the South in their RV.

  "We're open to anything," Moenk said. "We haven't really been anywhere or done anything."

  When they're not traveling, the pair will volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.

  "You always have to give back, and that's our plan," she said.

  In the fall, Moenk said she'd like to come back and volunteer with the library so she can stay in touch - that way she can still be involved with the job, the people and the community she loves.

  "I'm just so blessed I've been able to see all the different things that have happened, not only to the library but to the town itself."

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Stephanie A. Wilken can be reached at swilken@yumasun.com or 539-6857.