Tūrangi librarian Pam Quinlan moving on after 35 years

After 35 years working at the Tūrangi Public Library Pam Quinlan is moving on. Photo / Andy Taylor/TDC

"It's been my second home over the years, it has been lovely, I've loved every moment."

Those are the words of Tūrangi Public Library manager Pam Quinlan, who is stepping down from the role after 35 years.

"It has been a very rewarding job. A lot has changed in those 35 years - when I started it was still catalogue cards and you had to type them all up and put little slips in the back, but now it's all automated.

"We were part of the hydropower scheme, I moved here in 1965 and that was fascinating being brought up in that era, something that will never happen again because it was such a huge project. I'm really passionate about our local history, we really need our own museum here in Tūrangi."

Pam says the greatest highlight of her time at the library, which started as a way to keep working during school holidays when she was a teacher aide, has been the people.

"I was offered a job, just for a couple of weeks, doing the catalogue cards and that sort of thing. I thought 'wow, this is a pretty lovely job'. Then, one of the girls at the library went on her big OE so I applied for a job as library assistant and ended up getting the position. That's where it all started.

"Thirty-five years has gone quite quickly. Elizabeth Hura-O'Connor was the librarian at the time and she was just lovely. She took early retirement when we had a big restructure about 10 years ago. That's when I was able to take the role of librarian. She really encouraged me to do that and said she was only a call away if I needed help, and she encouraged me to get my librarian qualifications which was fantastic too.

"My fondest memories are from when I was the children's librarian. Seeing them come in back then, and now they've come in with their own children to see me. It's so lovely.

"Seeing the kids come in and learn to enjoy reading or study for assignments, it's just so rewarding."

The library will always hold a special place in her heart.

"The lovely patrons I've had over the years, and to know I've helped them, has been so fulfilling. It's been an absolutely fulfilling job, I've been really fortunate to work with such amazing people."

She has no intention of slowing down and now plans to chase her dream of being a successful entrepreneur.

"Our family business is Harris Quinlan Limited and we have incredible digital services and products we can let people know about and provide education on.

"It's not a traditional 9am to 5pm job at all, we'll offer programmes for teaching people how to trade online in the Forex Market. The world is moving into NFTs so we have lots on that as well.

"We want to connect people with the opportunities that are available when they learned the skill of trading. It's very exciting and it will be really busy. There is more freedom too, when my boys were young I missed out on a lot because I was working fulltime, now I don't want to miss out on seeing my grandkids."