SWAMPSCOTT — Alyce Deveau, a fixture at the Swampscott Public Library since 1983, plans to retire this fall.
While Deveau has been the library director for the past 25 years, her total years of service are nearing an impressive four decades. She started off working as a part-time assistant, then became an assistant librarian, and then the head of circulation before assuming her current position.
Deveau said she will be retiring from her position as library director sometime in October, but still hopes to be a part of some of the book groups, while also giving some space to let the new director feel at home.
She is also looking to put more time into Seaglass Village. Deveau described the group as being set up “to help seniors stay in their homes.” With the project just getting started, Deveau hopes to help get Seaglass Village off the ground.
For Deveau, her favorite part about the job has been all the people she has been able to meet.
“The staff is great, and over the years we’ve had great staff people, but I also love the patrons,” she said. “I don’t like being in (the office). I like being out there (in the library). I spend more of my time out on the floor. I love dealing with patrons.”
Deveau has also made the effort to run book groups, language classes and knitting groups. She said that prior to COVID-19 there were so many activities going on at the library, but she admitted that things had been tough during the pandemic.
“We were closed, totally out of the building for a few months and then the staff came back and we were working in the building,” she said. “That was almost harder than when (we’re) normally working because we were doing everything on Zoom, trying to do as much programming outreach as we could.”
Deveau said that they offered “everything we could think of to keep the library viable to the public,” including home delivery of books and offering various forms of online programming such as interviews, instructional videos and even podcasts.
Soon after closing their physical space to the public, the library added a window in the lobby where people could go to check out books. By September, the library hopes to be back to normal operations.
With Swampscott not having a community center accessible to all its residents, Deveau said that it was her goal to make the library a place where the town can gather.
“Twenty-five years ago when I became director, I made it almost like a goal that this would become a community center as well as a library,” she said. “That’s why we’ve offered so many programs.”
Deveau mentioned how the library is specifically focused on providing unique programs and opportunities, such as group ukulele lessons and the ability to check out air conditioners.
“I try to make it something that will help anyone in the community and that’s a real big part of the library being a community center,” said Deveau.
