After 24 years with the Blue Ridge Regional Library system, and 13 years as its director, Rick Ward is set to retire Tuesday, July 1.
Ward began his career with the library system on Feb. 1, 2001, as a reference assistant.
“In April they came to me and said, ‘Your boss is going to retire, and if you want to take his place, you’ve got to go get your master’s.’ I was like, ‘Would a bachelor’s be good enough?’ They were like, ‘No,’ so in August of that year I started graduate school,” he said.
Ward graduated with his MA in 2004 and became the reference supervisor. He was later promoted to branch manager at the Patrick County Library.
“I was down here the first time only for six years, then I went up there for almost six years, then I became the interim director, then eventually was the permanent director,” he said.
Ward said he chose to retire now because he recently turned 66, the traditional retirement age.
“I’m just to the point where I want to do something besides work. I have two grandchildren that I hardly get to see, so I just want to spend time with them. I still love the library, it’s just a matter of it being time for someone else to take over,” he said.
Throughout his tenure, Ward said one of his greatest achievements was appointing four out of the five current branch managers.
“There’s a number of things that kind of stand out. One of them was getting the new bookmobile—that was a big positive, and it was really a lot of fun doing the fundraisers for it. We had—it was called, ‘Riding our Region’—and we had Beth Macy and Martin Clark come and speak at the (Reynolds) Homestead. Ben Williams was the moderator, and Governor Baliles was there, and he spoke, and I was kind of the master of ceremonies,” he said.
Ward also helped the library system launch its e-book program, created its website, started movie licensing for children’s programs, and began the Bassett Library expansion project.
The system was also one of the first in Virginia to offer a summer feeding program, which began in Bassett.
“One of the biggies was the JOIDES Resolution, where we partnered with the Virginia Museum of Natural History and the Girl Scouts to bring an exhibit to Martinsville. We had kiosks at all the different branches as well. That was in—I think it was February 2018—and we were the first spot in the country that they came to,” he said.
Ward explained the JOIDES Resolution is a flagship research vessel for the International Ocean Discovery Program.
“It’s a converted oil drilling rig on a ship and they converted it basically to a floating laboratory. They go out and they take deep sea earth core samples and study those. It sort of gives the history of the world as it’s formed. We had a presentation where we were linked to the ship when it was in Antarctica, and a lady with a laptop gave us a tour of the ship, so that was really neat,” he said.
While he’ll miss talking to patrons, Ward said he’ll miss the staff the most.
“We have a really, really good staff at all the locations and we’ve all kind of got to be a loose-knit family, so I’ll miss talking to all of them and seeing them,” he said.
He’ll also miss seeing the excitement of young children exploring the library.
“When I used to work in reference, I can still remember a lady looking at me and saying, ‘That’s exactly what I’m looking for.’ My goal when I first started was—I was in retail for a long time before I got into the library world—and I would tell people, ‘I’m really glad now. I like helping people and this way I can help them without charging them for something,’” he said.
In addition to spending more time with his grandchildren, Ward said he plans to read more.
He also wants to “see if I can get back into shape to play golf. I used to play golf, but I’ve got a bad shoulder, and I haven’t been able to play recently. I’ve got a lot of projects around the house I want to do, plus it’d just be nice to go to the grocery store in the middle of the week instead of having to do it on the weekend when they’re so crowded,” he said with a laugh.
Ward said he still plans to visit the library branches from time to time.
“Especially the Patrick branch, since I live up there, and I think Somer’s (Luna-Ojodeagua) going to do really well taking over for” former branch manager Garry Clifton, he said.
