Farewell to our Retiring Librarian

From the Fredericksburg News: Spelling is a critical matter to almost every librarian. So when Margaret Williams saw her name misspelled on her retirement cake, she and those around her had to chuckle.

“This is the woman who has proofread ‘The Culpeper Minutes’ [the Board of Supervisors’ newsletter] and we’ve never had a complaint,” said Culpeper County (VA) executive assistant Debbie Hoffman.

The red lettering on her cake read “Congratulations Margret,” with an “a” edited in above. At Culpeper County Library, Williams’ departure after 32 years marks the end of an era.

The Culpeper native is the lone connection between the present and Miss Crimora Waite, who operated the library during its early days in the 1950s, ’60s and early ’70s.

Williams, who graduated from Culpeper High in 1967 and Westhampton College in 1971, had worked one year at Second National Bank when Waite approached her about possibly changing professions.

“She came to my house one Sunday after church to recruit me,” Williams recalls. “Her come-on was, ‘This job won’t put you in another tax bracket'” That was in 1972.