Martin to retire Humboldt Library after 30 years

Felita Pearson Martin put her heart and soul into her hometown library for 30 years.

“This is the only thing I’ve ever known,” said Martin last week. Her work there ends this month as she retires.

She began working for the Humboldt Public Library at the same time Carolyn Adams began there in July, 1987.

Adams went on to become the librarian and Martin was her assistant.

“I didn’t know A from Z,” Martin laughed. She and Adams learned together under the leadership and training of the late Lena Bell Reid, former librarian.

“All in all, the good days have outweighed the bad,” Martin says. She’s looking forward to going home to husband, James, and spending time with their two daughters and two grandbabies.

With the Summer Reading Program underway this month, Martin plans for her final duty at the library to be the last day of the program. The day is a celebration outdoors and she fully intends to go down the water slide!

Felita and James Martin will celebrate their 25th anniversary Dec. 18. Both are looking forward to time with family and traveling.

“I will miss my friends here, their personalities, their kindnesses,” Martin says.

Through the years she has seen the library transform from offering books and magazines to offering every form of media as it develops.

A while ago, patrons still signed their names on the check-out card and the librarian stamped the date due. Now it is all electronic. The Tennessee Electronic Library allows users to find books by subject, title or author.

She began with Books on Wheels under Adams and the program lives on today. Books on tape and in large print are available.

The children’s library thrives and will soon enlarge. The library has added more and more services and programs for the entire community as the years passed.

Martin began as a library aid and leaves as an assistant director. It’s been a career of learning.

When she retires, of course, she wants to read more!