Fremont’s library director leaves after nearly two decades
By Angie Landsverk
When Susan Frick was new to the community, she went to the library to meet people.
“I was working in Appleton,” she said. “I wanted to get to know people in Fremont, so I volunteered for the library board.”
That was about 20 years ago.
She did get a position on Neuschafer Community Library’s board.
Frick eventually resigned from it to work at the library.
Then in late 2002, she was named the director.
“I just fell in love with the job and got my master’s in library science,” she said.
Frick did so through the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
“I love books. I love reading,” she said.
Her professional background includes being a speech pathologist and working in special education.
She took time off to raise their children and did private, in-home work related to her field.
Frick’s last day serving as Fremont’s library director was July 31.
She has retired.
“I have little grandchildren now and a home in Arizona,” she said.
This gives her more free time to visit those grandchildren and spend time in Arizona.
Frick and her husband Jerry enjoy traveling.
“We drive into every small town and check out every library,” she said.
Frick particularly likes visiting Carnegie libraries.
She is also part of a women’s travel group.
“We love to go to exotic places our husbands don’t want to go to,” she said.
Growth
Frick said libraries have changed from being a place where people check out materials to one where they go for programs.
“This library is really the heartbeat of Fremont,” she said. “We welcome everyone.”
She said her employees – past and present – shared her vision of what a small town library should be.
“We are not a quiet library,” Frick said.
That was among the changes instituted after she became the director.
She said the library was too small to have that policy.
“We need moms to be able to come in with their kids and talk and play,” Frick said. “It’s a wonderful atmosphere. It’s very warm, very welcoming.”
Other things accomplished include adding a sign outside the library, increasing circulation and starting the young adults collection.
Frick cites starting that collection as among her biggest accomplishments.
Tweens and teens wanted something more to read, she said.
“It has been very popular,” Frick said.
A summer reading program for tweens/teens and adults also began during her tenure.
Programs for children increased, with the 1,000 Books Before Kindegarten Program among them.
Frick also brought the Lunch and Learn program to Fremont, modeling it after the Waupaca Area Public Library program.
She said it has been wonderful for adult patrons.
A book club is available as well.
The library’s annual fundraiser also grew.
“We grew that into a silent auction,” Frick said. “That money has been used to support children’s books, children’s programs, adult programs.”
The fundraiser makes between $12,000 and $13,000 a year, she said.
Some funds are also put aside from the fundraiser for the library’s future expansion.
“I am thankful for the Friends of the Library and the fundraiser group,” she said. “Those two groups have made an impact on the success of the library.”
Frick said the library is open more hours than it used to be.
She was active in the Outagamie Waupaca Library System and served as a mentor for a new director.
Frick also won a Stand Up for Rural Wisconsin Schools, Libraries and Programs Award in conjunction with Fremont Elementary.
She appreciates the library’s patrons and those who simply stopped in through the years to say hello.
“It’s just been wonderful watching the library grow,” Frick said. “It has truly been a joy.”