By Anita Weier
Friends of Lakeview Library

Katie Scharf has been the neighborhood librarian at Lakeview Library for 20 years, a timespan in which she grew to love the Northside community. “This library is so community bound. I love the family feel of it,” she said. A main reason for that family atmosphere is Katie, who has gotten to know — and helped — generations of families.

As she prepares to retire June 11, she recalled relying on the Northside Planning Council (NPC) for her entrée into the neighborhood. “Tim Carlisle was super great, and so were Jim Powell and Abha Thakkar,” she said, speaking of current and former NPC leaders. “I quickly got a feel for the community.”

Why did she become a neighborhood librarian? “When I graduated college in 1973, it was the protest and hippie days. My subversive activity was to believe in information for the people,” Scharf said with a smile.

After obtaining a master’s degree in library studies at UW-Madison, Scharf worked at libraries on the UW campus but soon found that her heart was in public libraries. She worked for the Madison Public Library (MPL) in a bookmobile for two years, which was truly “taking it to the streets,” then at the Central Library for three years.

She married Michael Scharf in 1979 and they raised two daughters, one of whom is a librarian. Scharf took some time off when the girls were young, and then returned to MPL and found her home away from home at Lakeview Library.

Lakeview was much smaller when she arrived. It was just 4,000 square feet, and an adult book group gathered around a table in the children’s section, sitting in very small chairs. Today they enjoy upholstered chairs in front of a fireplace, after the library was remodeled and enlarged to more than 9,000 square feet 13 years ago.

The community came together to help the City of Madison fund that expansion, with the Friends of Lakeview Library and NPC helping lead the fundraising effort. Former Mayor Sue Bauman asked the Northside to raise $110,000 for the project; but the community raised twice that, showing its love of reading and an appreciation of Scharf and her longtime colleagues, Todd Penner and Mary Fahndrich.

Scharf believes Lakeview is unique among Madison’s neighborhood libraries in the unwavering support from its Friends of the Library group. She credits Barb Karlen for keeping the organization going all these years, including organizing quarterly book sales that finance subscriptions and programs for Lakeview.

The two book clubs that Katie has led for years are among her favorite Lakeview activities. “I love talking about books, in clubs and over the counter,” Katie said.

“Overall, the most important function of the library, “she said, “is helping people. The library is often the last resort. To have a strong social network, you have to have strong public libraries.” She added, “We follow the process through, to make sure people get the answers they need — a form filed, an application completed, or a referral that sends them to the right agency.”

Sometimes people come back to tell the staff that they got the jobs the librarians helped them apply for, or people will come in to thank the staff for helping their elderly parents. Katie recalled a gentleman who had just moved here from Mexico and couldn’t speak English. “He came in and learned from our audio cassettes, and he kept coming back when he married and had children. This was the first place he came when he got his citizen papers — to show us what he had done,” she said.

Pat Morgan, a Northsider who uses Lakeview Library frequently, praised Katie’s responsiveness to requests for assistance of all types. “I have enjoyed participating in the various programming opportunities offered at Lakeview, from yoga to Valentine workshops to book groups. Her leadership and facilitation of the evening fiction book group made the monthly discussions interesting and enjoyable,” Morgan said.

Audrey Kleiss-Garcia, 14, who met Katie when she was three, commented. “Katie is always happy to see you, always helpful, and makes you feel good about being at the library. She takes your side against your parents, like when I was 10 and wanted to read ‘The Hunger Games.’”

“People say this library is welcoming, and they couldn’t say anything that would please me more,” Katie said. And one main reason for that welcoming feeling is Katie Scharf, who sets the tone with a big smile when people walk in the door.

The Friends of Lakeview Library will sponsor a celebration honoring Katie Saturday, June 11, at Lakeview Library, from 3‒5 pm. Katie hopes you will drop in. Those who want to honor her service may give a gift to the Lakeview Library Endowment Fund. Gift envelopes are available at the library, or gifts can be given online at www.mplfoundation.org.