Last week, Clare and Gilbert Valleys Libraries celebrated a significant milestone for one of its most beloved staff members, with Charles Cooper reaching 20 years of service.
Mr Cooper is a familiar face to many, greeting community members at the library with enduring enthusiasm for the role, and always ready to dress for the occasion, though had books not been a part of his life, he may well have taken another path.
At age nine, Mr Cooper discovered ‘The Ghost Who Walks’, Lee Falk’s novel of his long running Phantom comic strip.
“It had everything, the strong guy, the fantasy, the mystery, you know,” he said.
The positive message of the book gave Mr Cooper a sense of ethic he has carried through his life, and steered him clear of trouble in his youth.
“There were lots of groups at the time, and it wasn’t hard to be involved in something, if you had a strong leader and they took you down the wrong path,” he said.
“There were a couple of times where somebody in the group might have suggested doing something a bit iffy, and because of this book, I would think back to it and say, no, we’re not doing that. Or if you are, who’s coming with me and who’s going to go with him, that kind of thing. I put a lot of emphasis on that book because of it.”
After working as a gym instructor for many years, Mr Cooper was looking for a change, when books came back into his life.
“Right from being a teenager I was out the back, lifting buckets and bricks, but it got to a point I no longer enjoyed the process- not for myself personally, I still enjoy that, but of teaching and coaching others, I was looking for something more mentally stimulating,” he said.
“I had a friend who suggested I volunteer at the library, and my mind went back to when I was dark and quiet when I was young.”
Mr Cooper has seen numerous changes since he took on the role.
“We had videos at the time, not DVDs, and you could have them on one night loan. I think there were about 20 films. There was a video store on the main street, and the difference was you pay for that and get it for a week,” he recalled.
“We could give you the same one but you get it for one night so we weren’t cutting into their profit so much. We constantly had a list of 20, 30 people waiting for them.
“It was much different from what I thought a library was in my youth, it’s more like someone’s loungeroom with guests and of course it continues to grow and change over the years.”
Mr Cooper said he has enjoyed the dynamic nature of the job.
“With other jobs, you have a task, then it’s completed and you move on, but here everything is always moving, and you have to be part of a great team to make sure everyone is working together,” he said
The reward of the job has been seeing the community grow with him, and to be there for important moments.
“I’ve seen children grow up from babies when I used to read the stories to them, to where they come back now. One of the biggest moments of my life was when I first had some children, well, young adults coming back with boyfriends, girlfriends saying, ‘I want them to meet you.’
Why is that? Because they remembered me reading the stories or finding something, and I must have been able to put something into their lives. So when that started happening, 10-odd years ago, and it’s happened again a few times since, you sort of want to cry and also be so happy and proud, but it brings a bit of a tear at the same time.”
Mr Cooper has not lost that same enthusiasm he first found in taking on the role, continuing to draw on his own inspirations, and pass them on to the community, whether it was dressing up, reading, or engaging with creative activities.
“When you can connect with the children on their level on something and then you can see that look in their eyes where it’s like, oh, I get that. I just think, I wonder where that’s going to go,” he said.
