On June 20, 1983, Jeanne Schimmelmann wasn't officially a librarian, but a teacher with a special way with kids.

"I didn't have a (master of library science degree), but I was hired because I love children," she said of how she got the job as manager of the children's department at Wickliffe Public Library. "My director at that time said he could teach me how to be a librarian, but couldn't teach me how to love children. He hired me, and I just kind of grew with the job."

In 1989, Schimmelmann, who had previously been a first-grade teacher in the South Euclid/Lyndhurst district, went back to school and earned her MLS from Kent State while working full time.

Librarian may have been a second career for Schimmelmann, but if her "retirement party" on Aug. 7 was any indication, she found her calling. Families and former story hour listeners from all over Wickliffe and as far away as Wyoming came to send Mrs. S off.

Read more from Elizabeth Lundblad at Longtime Wickliffe librarian says hello to next chapter.