Longtime Radford librarian to retire

Longtime Radford Public Library Director Ann Fisher will retire this month after three decades.

“It has been a very wonderful experience,” said Fisher, who will depart Sept. 30.

“Radford has been good for me, and I think I’ve been good for Radford.”

Fisher has been with the library for 33 years — the first three spent in a 1,700- square-foot room in an old building on West Main Street where a CVS Pharmacy is now. The current library was built in 1980 and has been expanded twice.

“Every employee of the library was hired by Ann, and I would guess that every book in the library has been purchased under her watch,” Betty Overdorf, chairwoman of the Radford Public Library board, wrote in an e-mail.

During that time, the number of books circulating has more than quadrupled, Fisher said.

Replacing Fisher will be public services librarian Toni Cox. According to a news release from the city manager’s office, Cox was chosen from 13 applicants, and has worked at the library for 15 years as library clerk, library technician for acquisitions and public services librarian.

Cox said she has been “honored to work with Ann for the past 15 years.”

“She’s taught me so much about serving the community’s informational needs,” Cox said. “Radford is a great community, and the library reflects the community we serve.”

Cox has a bachelor of arts in English from Averett University, a master’s degree in English from Radford University and master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina and is a Virginia Certified Professional Librarian.

“Toni Cox has been a valued colleague and member of the Radford Public Library staff for many years and I am delighted that she has been appointed to take my position,” Fisher said in the city’s news release.

“I hope her experience in the position will be as positive as mine has been, and I wish her great success.”

by Amy Matzke-Fawcett NRV Current, Roanoke Times