HOULTON, Maine — Kathleen Gooding has a wealth of knowledge that she has incorporated over the years. She has used her knowledge to touch a lot of lives since she came to the United States in the 1960s. More than 30 years after putting her mark on local libraries, those she helped are returning the favor — they showed Gooding just how valuable she is to the library system and surprised her with a special presentation on June 21 at the Cary Library in Houlton.
Gooding was presented with the Honorary Lifetime Membership in the Maine Association of School Libraries (MASL) for her years of service, dedication and historic contributions to the library.
“I don’t’ know what to say,” said Gooding. “I’m highly honored.”
Friends and well-wishers packed the Cary Library to share stories about the “good old days” with Gooding. She was not aware that the gathering was taking place until she arrived with her daughter Allison Gooding.
“She’s touched an awful lot of lives,” said Allison. “One of the things that people talked about remembered my mother bringing resources that they’d need. On weekends and vacations we would go away and if we stopped in at a bookstore, Mom would say ‘so and so would need this,’ and we were always on search.
“That’s one of the things that I remembered,” she added.
During her career, she has helped hundreds of students with her stories, resources and rich and varied collection of materials ranging from birds’ nests and sand to plaster tracks and X-rays. She has been called an “innovator” who loved to try new things and was responsible for aiding numerous advances in library technology. She was also skilled with the video camera and videotaped numerous events for historical purposes.
“I did all the Community Chorus concerts and I gave all those tapes to the library so they would be accessible to the people of the chorus if they wanted them,” explained Gooding. “One time somebody at the elementary school asked me for a book with the names of every student in their class — so every child could read a story that had their name in it.”
She was more than happy to seek those stories out. Nowadays, people can buy books and put their child’s name in it. Doing research and finding resources was a passion and still is and that is what her peers remember the most about her.
“I might meet somebody at the hospital and they’ll say ‘remember when we did that thing about mold and we would have made a thing showing how an orange peel turned moldy?’ It really wasn’t library work, but it had to do with the curriculum,” she remarked. “That’s what I did. Get the right book for the right person at the right time — that’s what a librarian is for.”
Gooding and her husband Garth were both involved with library activities. In 1970, Gooding began working at the Lambert and elementary schools in Houlton as the librarian. She became a member of the Maine Educational Media Association (MEMA) when it was organized and attended the first meeting in 1971. She held the office of the secretary for several years.
Gooding and her husband continued to be active until he became ill in the 1990s. She retired in the late ‘90s.
She still lives in Houlton with her daughter and continues to do research via the Internet. Reading and education was an interest from early childhood and Gooding said it’s something she’ll do as long as she can.
“When I was 10 years old, I read ‘Ivanhoe’ and I kept it under my pillow at night so my mother wouldn’t know I was reading it,” she said. “It’s pretty hard reading — Walter Scott — and it had thin pages that they had in those days.”
Gooding was presented with the Honorary Lifetime Membership in the Maine Association of School Libraries (MASL) for her years of service, dedication and historic contributions to the library.
“I don’t’ know what to say,” said Gooding. “I’m highly honored.”
Friends and well-wishers packed the Cary Library to share stories about the “good old days” with Gooding. She was not aware that the gathering was taking place until she arrived with her daughter Allison Gooding.
“She’s touched an awful lot of lives,” said Allison. “One of the things that people talked about remembered my mother bringing resources that they’d need. On weekends and vacations we would go away and if we stopped in at a bookstore, Mom would say ‘so and so would need this,’ and we were always on search.
“That’s one of the things that I remembered,” she added.
During her career, she has helped hundreds of students with her stories, resources and rich and varied collection of materials ranging from birds’ nests and sand to plaster tracks and X-rays. She has been called an “innovator” who loved to try new things and was responsible for aiding numerous advances in library technology. She was also skilled with the video camera and videotaped numerous events for historical purposes.
“I did all the Community Chorus concerts and I gave all those tapes to the library so they would be accessible to the people of the chorus if they wanted them,” explained Gooding. “One time somebody at the elementary school asked me for a book with the names of every student in their class — so every child could read a story that had their name in it.”
She was more than happy to seek those stories out. Nowadays, people can buy books and put their child’s name in it. Doing research and finding resources was a passion and still is and that is what her peers remember the most about her.
“I might meet somebody at the hospital and they’ll say ‘remember when we did that thing about mold and we would have made a thing showing how an orange peel turned moldy?’ It really wasn’t library work, but it had to do with the curriculum,” she remarked. “That’s what I did. Get the right book for the right person at the right time — that’s what a librarian is for.”
Gooding and her husband Garth were both involved with library activities. In 1970, Gooding began working at the Lambert and elementary schools in Houlton as the librarian. She became a member of the Maine Educational Media Association (MEMA) when it was organized and attended the first meeting in 1971. She held the office of the secretary for several years.
Gooding and her husband continued to be active until he became ill in the 1990s. She retired in the late ‘90s.
She still lives in Houlton with her daughter and continues to do research via the Internet. Reading and education was an interest from early childhood and Gooding said it’s something she’ll do as long as she can.
“When I was 10 years old, I read ‘Ivanhoe’ and I kept it under my pillow at night so my mother wouldn’t know I was reading it,” she said. “It’s pretty hard reading — Walter Scott — and it had thin pages that they had in those days.”
