Dottie and John Rowen
John and Dottie Rowen have been volunteering in the Strasburg-Heisler Library for just about 3 years. Every Wednesday morning they come in smiling with infectious cheerfulness and get busy doing two very yucky tasks for us; they resurface DVDs and clean the children’s books! Truth be told, these get gross! Picture books, easy readers, even the series books don’t get past their wipes.
Every week they load up a cart of books from a shelf, get out the spray cleaner, and go after the gunk. Our books become refreshed when that mysterious, sticky goo gets wiped away. The DVDs that were doomed for the scrap bin are brought back to life. Once finished, everything gets carefully returned to the shelves looking like new.
But that’s not all! When our busy summer reading preparations are in full swing, they eagerly ask what needs to be done. Our stamping, counting, and envelop stuffing are done with former school teacher precision!
We enjoy their conversation and company very much. We are truly blessed to have Dottie and John in our library family.
Kristen Fernitz
Director, Strasburg-Heisler Library