‘Connection is the most important thing to her’: Fresno County Librarian celebrates her 50th anniversary

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – A Fresno County Librarian is celebrating her 50th anniversary with the county.

Penny Hill spent most of her career as a children’s librarian and 26 years at the Selma Branch Library.

Hill loves reading to the kiddos -and they adore her, too. As they grew up and had their own children, they returned to the library so their kids could have the same magical experience of being read to by Miss Penny.

“For Penny, the most important person is the person right in front of her, and you can see this in all of her interactions,” said Jennifer Bethel, Principal Librarian at the Fresno County Public Library.

From Lindsay, California, Hill was inspired by her hometown librarian and wanted to follow in her footsteps.

“Mrs. Peggy, superwoman, and I saw how everybody loved her, and they liked having her help,” Hill said.

Hill wanted to be that same source of support, whether by introducing new books or witnessing people through all stages of life.

“One gal came in and she was on the computer and all of a sudden, she let out a shriek and left, and I went over and looked, what is she looking at? She had gotten a letter, an email that said she had a full ride for college, I just got all choked up about that,” Hill said.

Over the past five decades, she’s watched the integration of technology into the library; particularly how people check out books.

“We would help people check out and now it’s these self-checks,” Hill said.

Hill says it makes her sad, “because you don’t get to have that interaction.”

But that doesn’t stop Hill from making every visitor’s experience memorable.

“Penny will just hang out near the self-checkout,” Bethel said. “’How are you doing today? That looks like a great book, is that a cookbook? You need to come back in and bring us something that you’ve made’, you know, she’s out there chatting with folks because that connection is the most important thing to her.”

While she’s not certain when retirement will come, she says she still wants to make a difference.

“As long as I’m able, as long as I’m making a difference, I don’t want to be carried out of here feet first, you know, but I still want to, I want to make a difference.”

Next month, Hill will be honored for her lifetime of service at this year’s State of the County luncheon.

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