Photo by Ingrid Schnader Starnes Media
Karen Davis speaks to Nora, 6; Micah, 3; and Jennifer Manley at a retirement tea in Davis’ honor held at Trussville Public Library on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020. Davis worked at the Trussville Public Library for 19 years before retiring on Jan. 1, 2020.
The Trussville Library Auditorium had a full house on Sunday as dozens of friends and family celebrated the retirement of librarians Karen Davis and Laura Edge.
Guests said they will remember Edge, who was a Trussville librarian for 19 years, for her ability to always help them find a good book.
“If you wanted a new book, she always had great ideas,” said Libby Brockman, a Clay-Chalkville graduate who came to the library as a teenager. “You’d be like, ‘I want something in this category,’ and she’d say, ‘I got something for you.’”
Edge always knew which young adult novels were good because she read all of them, she said.
“I enjoyed them,” she said, laughing. “There’s some good writing in those young adult books. There are plenty of adults who still come in that read them.”
Davis, who was also honored at the event, worked at the library for 16 years.
Ivy and Lucy Taylor — two sisters who are 11 and 8, respectively — said they’ll remember Davis because of her role in the American Girl Doll Club. They met once a month with Davis to learn about each American Girl Doll, eat a snack and make a craft.
“Miss Karen is an awesome person,” Ivy Taylor said. “She’s really helpful and a really nice person to talk to. I’ll miss her.”
Lucy Taylor agreed. “She’s really nice,” she said. “And she helps out with a lot of things.”
Davis’ husband, Larry, was at the event and said her love for children made her such a good librarian. Love the children, he said, and they’ll love you back. As proof of this, his wife would often come home with gifts.
“We’ve got all kinds of stuff,” he said. ‘Little ornaments we’ve put up on the wall. The kids have made little pottery things. They’ll go on vacation and come back with a gift for her."
Jennifer Bain, who worked with Davis for 8 years until her retirement in 2008, said Davis showed the children that she cared about them.
“It’s not like when you go to a fast food store and they say, ‘How are you today?’ but they don’t really care, they’re just saying it,” she said. “She really cares. When she asked you a question, she really wanted to know the answer. She has a caring spirit.”
Jennifer Manley brought her two children to the event — Nora, 6, and Micah, 8. They live in the Muscle Shoals area, but Manley is Edge’s daughter, so they drove to Trussville to celebrate her retirement.
“She puts everything into her work,” Manley said about her mother. “If she’s going to do something, she’s going to do it all the way. And I love that. She deserves this. She’s worked so hard for so long — now it’s time to party.”
Nora Manley said her “Mimi” is a good librarian because she’s nice, she’s funny and she always helps people find good books.
Edge’s mother, Miriam Thomas, also attended the event. She said it was nice to see her daughter honored like this and that Edge’s passion for reading is what made her such a good librarian.
“She’s loved to read since she was in kindergarten,” she said. “She read so well and so early that her daddy didn’t believe she could read. I’d say, ‘Yes, she read me a book.’”
Edge said she enjoyed the event because she felt appreciated and loved by the people who she used to help when they were teenagers.
For Davis, the turnout was surprising but very sweet, she said.
“I’ll miss the people — the staff and the children,” Davis said. “Especially the staff. We’re like a big family.”
