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Checking out, signing off Amy Blossom, right, meets with Alexander Mathews, 2, and his mom, Sera Mathews, after the toddler reading program at the Ashland Library. [Daily Tidings / Denise Baratta] Wednesday Mar 22, 2017 at 12:01 AM Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings @Joe_Zavala99 Amy Blossom still remembers a training session decades ago in Medford that jumped the tracks when a fellow librarian burst through the doors and announced that the clumsy new research systems they were being forced to master were in fact complete wastes of time because something called the World Wide Web would soon make all such text-based programs obsolete. “And everyone’s going, ‘What are you talking about, this can’t be,’” Blossom recalls. But the woman insisted that it could be and was, and refused to go through the training. When the other librarians told her that she couldn’t just walk out, she did. Years later, at a library conference, the speaker asked how many people in the room had heard of something called Google. A few in the audience, Blossom included, raised their hands. “It’s going to take over everything,” he said. Now, far removed from the days of DOS-based computing and LP check-outs, Blossom, Ashland library’s soon-to-be retiring branch manager, marvels that, even though both those hyperbolic predictions proved to be correct, the job of a librarian hasn’t changed all that much. “It’s kind of fun to watch the progress,” said Blossom, 64, whose last day will be April 3. “But in terms of who’s using the libraries, it varies. There are still people who come in every day to read the newspaper. They were 30 years ago, they still are today, and they still fight over who gets the Wall Street Journal first thing in the morning. “Online has changed a lot of that, but people still check out the magazines, they like the pictures, they like to hold it, and people are still reading fiction.” A public reception in honor of Blossom will be held at the Ashland library from 1 to 3 p.m. on her last day. It’ll mark the end of a 40-year career that began in Chicago in 1978. She landed a job at the Medford library as a reference sub, working weekends and as a fill-in, shortly after moving to Oregon from Colorado in 1986. She moved to Ashland shortly thereafter, working as a 20-hour a week reference librarian. She was named branch manager in the fall of 2007 following the branch’s closing and subsequent reopening — a tumultuous time in the library’s history which Blossom says resulted in a more financially stable library system. “It’s such a great feeling,” she said, “because for so many years it was, ‘Well, you have money, but not this much,’ and it was all controlled by the county. There were just competing forces and fewer dollars.” Blossom decided in February to retire, partly to spend more time with her grandchildren. She’s hoping the move will be a blessing for both her and the library. Jackson County Library Services, of which Ashland library is a member, is still advertising the position. “It’s time for something new,” Blossom said. “I’ve been here a long time. We need some new blood in here with some new ideas.” JCLS will be accepting applications until March 24, Blossom said. So far, most of the applicants are from out of state, but she’s hoping somebody local steps in. “To me it’s very important that it’s somebody who’s connected to the community,” she said. “I got to look at some of the applications and they look like good, quality people. What I told my director is my goal is that they get somebody who can be connected to the community and also is fun. “People get into this field not for the money but because the community aspect of it.” When asked if she has any advice for Ashland’s next branch manager, Blossom was quick with a response. “You’re getting a dream job,” she said. “This is the most supportive community, I would say, in the country, of their library. It’s sensational. How that looks is just by walking out there and seeing everybody greet each other. It’s just a place where people can come in from the community, and people from all walks of life, from the homeless to the people with the big homes. “People use it, they know it’s a safe place. There’s just this sense of community that will continue.” Before deciding to pursue a career as a librarian, Blossom had considered becoming a social worker. Alas, she says now, the two careers are similar in many ways. She realized that when, working as a reference librarian at another library, she received a number of calls from a woman whose list of very basic questions seemed endless. What was World War II? Who won that? Over time, Blossom and her coworkers discovered that the woman had suffered a stroke and was trying to rebuild her memory one fact at a time.  “And the fact that she knew to call us was a huge step,” Blossom said. “And I just felt honored to be a part of that. I just love the work. “Most people who go into it, you sort of have a calling for it. You want to help people, you want to find information. My kids would always go, ‘You’ve got to come to trivia night with us.’ And I’d say, ‘I don’t know remember the answers, I just know where to find the answers.’” — Joe Zavala is a reporter for the Ashland Daily Tidings. Reach him at 541-821-0829 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @Joe_Zavala99.