Walworth-Seely Public Library: Rose

Ardith Rose
Former Walworth-Seely Library Children’s Librarian

Ardith Rose is one of the people in our neighborhood. She and her husband, Chuck, were very involved in our community, schools, Scouts, and especially the 2nd Baptist Church of Walworth as they raised their four children: Todd, Brett, Paul, and Tammy.
Ardith began volunteering at the Walworth-Seely Library while Mary Simpson was the Director (September, 1969 to June, 1970; and May, 1971 to June, 1972), Marty Davis was the Clerk, and MaryAnn Hartley was the Children’s Librarian. Occasionally, Ardith would substitute for Marty after she became the Director, but from January, 1977, to May, 1985Ardith was the Children’s Librarian.
“Space constraints have always been an issue in the library,” Ardith stated during our telephone interview. “We used the upstairs portion of the Seely building for storage and our staff meetings, so it left more space for books and patrons, but there was a space crunch when we had the pre-school Story Hours. We used the front room where the original front door and old book-drop were located. At first we had only one story hour, but then expanded to four story hours.”
The library had many small child-sized, colorful, molded plastic chairs that stacked up on themselves to save space when they weren’t in use. These chairs needed to be arranged for each session and then re-stacked. In front of the audience, Ardith would put a puppet stage or flannel board, or rocking “story” chair, depending on her theme for the session.
“I especially liked to build around the Holiday themes,” Ardith said. “For Thanksgiving, I’d read the story “Stone Soup” and have the children help me make a pretend stone soup with the ingredients I’d brought in. Then, we’d share a finger-food Thanksgiving snack. Volunteer helpers like Pat Ormsby and Louise Weller were very gracious in giving of their time to assist us, no matter what the theme.”
Christmas was another of Ardith’s favorite themes. Special crafts to be turned into gifts, special foods to be taste tested, and, of course, a special visitor dressed in red (a.k.a Tom Ormsby or Tom Fleming).
Ardith’s warmth, wonderful sense of humor, innate knowledge of children, and love was always evident in all she did, but especially so when she put on a puppet show. Bill Wemple built a stage and, as Ardith spun her magic through puppets, our pre-schoolers learned how to handle a myriad of childhood issues in a way they could understand and internalize.
During one of the story hours I attended with my pre-schoolers is an example of Ardith’s unflappability and quick thinking. She was in the middle of a puppet program and the library phone rang. She was the only librarian on duty at the time, so she needed to answer the phone. I saw her get a bit pale and dial a number. She came over to me and asked if I wouldn’t mind taking over the pre-schoolers for a few moments. I didn’t know until our interview (30-years after the incident) that the first phone call was from Mark Simpson. He’d been burning brush and some how caught himself on fire. He’d called Ardith for help…in a hurry. She dialed the ambulance, which took time as it was before the Emergency 911 number had been established; then, found a cover for her story hour. All in a day’s work at the library for Ardith Rose.
“We did have one mystery that kept us wondering what was going on for quite a while,” Ardith mused. “We used to have a jar on our check-out counter for patrons to donate “over-due” money. When I’d open the library, the money would be gone, even if it were only one penny in the jar when I left. Eventually, the mystery was solved, though. Several of the local teens were boosting one of the little ones in through the book-drop. He’d take the money and run.”
Another special event Ardith holds dear is making a float for one of the early Walworth Festivals. The theme of the float was “Storybook Characters”. She remembered there was square dancing on Main Street and other activities in those days.
“Having a strong summer reading program is important,” Ardith said. “Bringing in local authors like MJ Auch, Jay Stetzen, and Rafe Martin, illustrator Eric Carle, as well as local talents like the magician Jim Bush and other entertainors are needed to show the children positive role models.”
Many of these ideas she incorporated into her Teddy Bear Trail Nursery School, held in the mid-80’s. Ardith’s enthusiasm, organizational skills, and investment in our community can be witnessed by the Bradford Pear Tree she and her nursery school students planted in Ginegaw Park near the original pavillion those many years ago. Yes, the tree is still thriving today.
In her vision for the future of Walworth, Ardith sees the Baptist Community Center as a step in the right direction to provide our youth with a safe, fun place to go, but she would like to see it expand to include such activities as basketball, ping pong, and a large meeting room, similar to a YMCA.
Ardith grew up on a farm that is now part of Gananda and attended Macedon Elementary School until 5th grade when her family moved away. Years later, on a visit back to see her “old home”, she found that Chuck’s family was living in the old farm house. Well, They were married on July 28, 1962. Now, four children and 13 grandchildren later, Chuck and Ardith are still enjoying life to the fullest.
Ardith under-scores the mission statement found in the 1962 brochure that commemorated the official ribbon cutting opening the library to the public, it stated:
“To accomplish the one and only purpose of any public library – education and enjoyment derived from books -the Walworth -Seely Public Library offers its patrons the service of a large, invisible force of workers.”
Thank you, Ardith Rose, for being a Walworthian with the accent on worth and being a part of what makes the Walworth-Seely Public Library our gateway to knowledge.
(SOURCE: telephone interview with Ardith Rose by Kate Chamberlin, August 11, 2008)
NOTE: Here are some of the books written by the authors Ardith mentioned. MJ Auch: Beauty and the Beaks, Wing Nut, Chickerella. Rafe Martin: Birdwing, The Shark God, The Monkey Bridge,. Eric Carle: The Grouchy Ladybug, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?, The Tiny Seed. Story-teller Jay Stetzer: 3 Granger Place Rochester, N.Y. 14607 (585) 727-0700. Magician Jim Bush: (315)986-5624, Email: info@jimbushmagic.com, P.O.Box 975, Macedon, NY 14502