Caryl Harris was born in Wichita, KS and raised in Bushnell, IL. She arrived in Clermont in 2001 after retiring from the public library in Princeton, IL. With 21 years of experience in the library system and serving as Library Director in Princeton, IL, it didn’t take long before she began working for Lake County Library System as a reference librarian in 2002.
“I loved being a reference librarian, and it was wonderful moving into the new Cooper Memorial Library in 2009 and immediately seeing its exponential growth”, said Harris. “I retired (for the 2nd time in my life) in 2011 and became a member of the Cooper Memorial Library Association Board, and recently served as its president.
The Cooper Memorial Library Association Board administers the Amateus Library grant every year and, for the past few years, busily researched, wrote and published the book “Clermont, from Gem of the Hills to Choice of Champions: A History of Clermont” in 2019.
Harris expressed her enjoyment in working at the Library and with the board members and hopes that though she resigned, she looks forward to hearing about the future work of the board.
The board members, Toni Bell, Michelle Delaney, Ebo Entsuah, Lucy Hage, Dennis Horton, Terry Moherek, Tom Nichols, Lavonte Rogers, and Chuck Seaver expressed their appreciation for the valuable work and time that Caryl has given to the library. Michelle Delaney, president of the board presented her with a token of appreciation and said, “We will miss Caryl, though if history repeats itself, it won’t be long before we see her, once again, at the library. She can’t stay away”.
