Mt. Prospect librarian has helped guide collection for decades

Over nearly three decades spent at the Mount Prospect Public Library, former librarian Sharon Grieger observed a cultural shift in the village, and all from her behind-the-scenes role, in charge of collection development.

"We always took into consideration what our patrons were reading," says Grieger, "and that changed dramatically over the course of my time there."

In the early 1970s when she started, Grieger says, her patrons were mostly women looking for books on collecting things, such as china and glassware, and about running a home.

"Now, our readers are much more interested in current events and what's going on in the world," Grieger says. "The role of women, with so many of them going back to work, definitely has had a hand in that."

Grieger retired in 1999, but she continues to work with the library's collection one day a week, making decisions on what books to retain.

Last summer, library officials recognized Grieger's impact, bestowing on her their highest honor, the Founder's Award. In the nearly 25 years since the award's inception, Grieger is the first staff member to receive it.

"She's left such an indelible mark on who we as a library are today," says library Director Marilyn Genther. "Through all of the changes, she's been such a guiding light and left a permanent mark on our collection. It's her legacy."

Grieger arrived in Mount Prospect in 1973, after earning her master's in library science from Rosary College (now Dominican University). Over the years, she served as reference librarian, head of adult services, assistant director, and collection development librarian.

She and her husband, Tom, the former Daily Herald photography director, raised their family in Arlington Heights.

In 1989, when Genther was head of the adult services department, she and Grieger set out to write the library's first collection development policy.

Right from the start, Genther says, it was intended to be a "living document" and would change with the times to adapt to new collections and formats. This flexibility, she adds, has continued to guide them as books have gone from paper to tape, and from CD to digital.

"It takes a huge amount of work and research to just not purchase what's on Publisher's Weekly," Genther says. "We get statistics from checkout every week that we look at that tells us what patrons are reading."

Grieger says that for a long time, the Mount Prospect Public Library was known for its World War II collection, thanks to a major gift from a local resident. But she and her colleagues aimed to expand that kind of research capability to other areas as well.

"Our attempt was always to achieve a certain depth in our collection," Grieger says, "so that if anyone was interested in a subject, they would be able to find resources on it - without having to go to a university library."