Summary: Anita Bowser, originally from Armstrong County and living in Butler since 2019, shares her

experiences with the Butler Area Public Library. She recalls visiting the library for meetings and trainings

and, after she relocated, using it as her personal library. Anita fondly describes working with

professional and fun colleagues at the library and recalls spending time in the library with her daughter,

who now works at a library in Dallas, TX. Anita, who is the manager of the Information Services

Department, highlights recent changes to library services arising from technological advances.

Zephan Samuel: It is Wednesday, November 13, and I am Zephan Samuel, a volunteer with the Butler

Area Public Library. Can you tell me your name and where you’re from?

Anita Bowser: My name is Anita Bowser. I am originally from Armstrong County, and I now live in the

city of Butler.

Zephan Samuel:Awesome. So how long have you lived in this community?

Anita Bowser: I moved to Butler in 2019 right before the pandemic. So I have been here for four years.

Zephan Samuel:What are some of your earliest memories of the library.

Anita Bowser: So this library, I remember probably in 2010 I started coming to this library. I was a library

director in Armstrong County, and I came here for meetings and for trainings. I started coming here and

using this library as my personal library, once I moved to the area.

Zephan Samuel: So from those memories, what are some of your fondest memories from this library?

Anita Bowser:Working in this library has given me a lot of really fond memories, because the people I

work with are a lot of fun, and they’re very professional, and I enjoy working with them. They really like

what they do, they’re good at what they do, and that makes me happy. So I really enjoy being in the

library.

Zephan Samuel: So who was with you on your early trips to the library?

Anita Bowser:When I came years ago as a director, I sometimes brought my daughter. I was able to do

that. I was a library director, and I could take her with me to places. And, I would go to meetings, and

then she would stay in the young adult area and read and do research. Do her homework. And she was

very impressed with the young adult area. We didn’t have anything that impressive in Armstrong

County, and it was really nice for her to get to see what other libraries had to offer.

Zephan Samuel: So a really nice bonding experience with your daughter.

Anita Bowser: It really was. And, now my daughter works in a library.

Zephan Samuel:Wow.

Anita Bowser: So yeah, those early years in libraries were really impactful for her.

Zephan Samuel:That’s amazing. From going to the library to working at a library. So, for your first time,

do you remember what you came to the library for?

Anita Bowser: I actually came for meetings. I came to network with other people and to learn things. I

did make a trip or two over for genealogy. That was on my own. That was not as part of my work at the

library in Armstrong County. I visited the genealogy department, and Margaret Hewitt, who was here at

that time, gave me and a cousin of mine a tour of the department so that we could use the resources. So

that was another reason that I came

Zephan Samuel:Nice. So what sort of thing do you do when you work at the library now?

Anita Bowser: I am the manager of the Information Services Department, and basically what that means

is I work in the Reference Department and I work in the Genealogy Department. And, I help keep things

running as smoothly as possible. We wait on customers. A lot of people come in to use the computers in

the Reference Department. So I do a lot of that. I help people, sometimes with their technology needs,

and I help people find things. And, yeah, that’s basically what I do.

Zephan Samuel:Now, from your first time using library with your daughter to working at it now, how

has the library changed over the years?

Anita Bowser: I would say a lot of the services that the library provides changed dramatically during the

pandemic. They went to doing a lot of audio visual stuff. A lot of things are more available online. We

have a lot more accessibility to online resources, and we direct people to them a lot more. So I think

libraries everywhere changed a lot during the pandemic.

Zephan Samuel:Definitely makes sense. Now from all the changes that have taken place over the years,

which one do you think was the most striking change out of all of them?

Anita Bowser:Most striking change? I would say technology has made the most striking change. Um,

yeah, because we used to look in a card catalog for materials, and we used to have to find research

materials in other locations to bring to people. And now, with the information technology that libraries

have, we can access a lot of things with just the touch of a keystroke. Technology has had a big impact,

and a lot of people come to the library just to use the technology.

Zephan Samuel:Even now at reference we can see people are using computers on a daily basis.

Anita Bowser: That’s right.

Zephan Samuel:Yeah, everyone has cell phones, computers. I mean, technology has changed everyone’s

life.

Anita Bowser:That’s right. That’s right.

Zephan Samuel:All right. I think that’s all the questions. I thank you for your time and for your story. It

was incredibly interesting, and for our first interview, I think went extremely well.

Anita Bowser: I think so too.

Zephan Samuel:Thank you.

The Silent Generation