Debbie Johnson – 1980-2017

Debbie Johnson – 1980-2017

Debbie & Kathy O’Rear

Debbie & Kay Shadwell

The library decided to convert the Card Catalog into digital records shortly after I started working for the library.  This was long before computers became a part of our daily lives.  Using OCLC, The Ohio College Library Center, staff members Kay Shadwell, Joan Anderson, Kathy O’Rear, Charlotte Fox, myself and other staff transferred the holdings of thousands of materials that were in the library collection to the computer.  This was done as overtime and was done on weekends and took several months.  The City also contracted out for additional clerical help from The Kelly Girls, which was a very popular Temporary Agency at the time.

This was all done in Technical Services, which is now called, Automated Services.  I worked in Technical Services for 17 years before being transferred to The Circulation Department in 1997.  We were classified as Clerk Typists then and before the change to the digital format, each Clerk in Tech Services would file a stack of catalog cards before the library opened every morning.  We gradually discontinued maintaining the Card Catalog.  Switching from the Card Catalog to computers is one of my happiest memories working at the library and being a part of the process, one of my most proudest.

In 2003, Verizon National Literacy Champion Al Jarreau read the story “Charlie Parker Played Be Bop” to a group of children at Main Library. The Long Beach Library Foundation was presented with a $250,000 grant to fund a school-readiness program for preschoolers and a parenting class for their parents.  Debbie had her picture taken with him.