When Jill Fulcher began her career at Council in 1979, she was tasked with helping to set up the new library in the historic local building which is now the art gallery.
On her first day she was greeted with a room full of books spread out on the floor ready for her to paste pockets and date due slips into each new book.
Clocking up approximately 34 years, the Coordinator for Library and Technical Services has worked on both a casual and full-time basis in various library roles, working with four managers during that time.
Jill said she had thoroughly enjoyed her work in the library, especially the opportunity to form relationships with staff and customers over the years.
“I’ve met some lovely people,” she said.
“Sadly, some of our customers have now passed away and there are others who I remember coming in as children and are now adults.”
An achievement for which Jill is most proud is the successful implementation of the Radio Frequency Identification technology introduced in 2016 for borrowing items.
“When we were teaching the customers, they were at first a little daunted with using it and worried it was taking our jobs,” Jill said.
“We were able to explain that this wasn’t the case and the new system freed us up to do other work within the library.”
For the last three years, Jill has been the person behind Picture Bundaberg posts on the Bundaberg Library’s Facebook page.
Posting historical photos from the collection and seeing the community’s reaction and comments is something she’s found particularly rewarding.
There have also been some memorable moments for Jill, and she recalls the time she arrived at work to find a ‘Wildlife enclosure – enter at own risk’ sign on the microfiche room door.
“I thought this was a joke, so I opened the door to find a very distraught wallaby hopping wildly around the room,” she said.
Thankfully she was able to capture the frightened animal, wrap it in a blanket and deliver it to a carer.
“We’ve also had other animals and birds find their way in which has proved interesting.”
Other surprising moments were finding strange bookmarks as books were returned to the shelves.
“We’ve found quite a few over the years including a $100 note,” Jill said.
Grateful to Council for her employment, Jill said management is to be commended for the professional development opportunities offered to staff both inhouse and externally.
She is now looking forward to sharing retirement with her husband who retires on the same day, doing more travelling and spending time with family.
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Jill, I must be amongst the really old people. I can recall once a week going to the library when I was 10 or so, selecting a book from the children’s section, and then crossing over to the Post Office so I could get home in the car. This was when the library was at the School of Arts. The favourite book to be read by a boy then was of course, “Biggles” and his adventures.