WINDHAM — Laurel Parker is ready to write a new chapter after more than 25 years at the Windham Public Library.

Parker, 65, started working at the library in 1992 and took over as the children’s librarian two years after that. She’s retiring on Sept. 4 and the library is holding a send-off event Monday, Aug. 27, from 3-6 p.m.

“I’m ready to be done. I think it’s been a really good run, but I’m also really looking forward to new things, new adventures, new chances,” Parker said.

She moved to Windham from New Hampshire in 1978 after studying recreation and park administration. Her first paid job in high school was as a page at the Nashua Public Library and she “just sort of found my way back to libraries.”

In retirement, she looks to “try something different” and embrace her other interests as a needle worker, gardener and local historian. One of her primary goals is to become a Red Cross blood platelet donor.

After both her husband and father died last year and needed hospice care, she decided she’d like to become a hospice volunteer.

She also plans to dive into her family’s history and connect with friends who are also retiring. She joked that she will take time to “read grown-up books.”

Parker may be retiring, but she isn’t leaving the library all together. Her involvement there started as a member of the Friends of the Windham Public Library group, and she will continue in her current role as treasurer.

She said residents have already come by the library to wish her well.

“A lot of folks have stopped by – some people whose kids are now 25, 30 years old stop by and say, ‘hey remember when?’ And they’ve been really appreciative of the work we’ve done here,” Parker said.

She has now seen two generations of some families come through the library, working with children whose parents were once young kids reading in the children’s room. Parker said that “makes you realize you’ve been here for a while.”

“I haven’t had any grandchildren come yet, though, of the people I started with, so that’s good,” she laughed. “Just two generations.”

Parker said it has been rewarding to work with kids and help lay a foundation and interest in reading.

“There have been some stories that have been really heartwarming to me,” she added. “It’s an important foundation to lay.”

Now in her final weeks, Parker is concentrating on wrapping things up and “trying to leave behind a good pathway, some guidance for the new person who comes in.”

Library Director Jen Alvino said Parker’s retirement “will definitely leave a void” and emphasized Parker’s institutional knowledge of both the library and the town.

“What’s great is watching the community respond to her when they visit,” Alvino said. “She’s very well known.”

Alvino is “excited to see what the hiring process brings us, but it will definitely be a big change.” Both she and Parker see an opportunity for the new children’s librarian to chart a new course.

“They’re not going to fill my shoes, they’re going to create their own path,” Parker said about her replacement. “I have all the confidence in the world that Jen Alvino will staff the library very well for the future children in Windham.”

She is most proud of working on the annual Family Literacy Fun Day, which brings Maine authors and illustrators to Windham each November. She also welcomed the chances she had to attend conferences and “bring back some of the best practices nationwide to the library and to the children’s room specifically.”

Parker doesn’t have a favorite type of book and calls herself an “eclectic reader.”

She worked under three different directors at the Windham Public Library and has been involved in several statewide groups, including the Maine Library Association.

“It’s very interesting to stop and think about all the things you did over 26 years,” she reflected.

Parker has made her final order of new books for the children’s room, which has more than 10,000 titles of books, movies, magazines and other materials.

The new books include titles such as “All Are Welcome,” “Do Not Open This Math Book,” and “Snuggle Puppy.” Parker said she makes an effort to purchase books that allow Windham children to learn about people from other backgrounds.

Parker has also seen and participated in the digitization of libraries over the past few decades, going from file cards to “zapping a book with a scanner.”

“You can handle a lot more knowledge with technology than we could before. And being in the library field, you always have an opportunity to learn and grow,” Parker said. “Two things I like to do: I like to gain knowledge, and I like to share knowledge, and you couldn’t be in a better professional to do those two things.”

Matt Junker can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 123 or mjunker@keepmecurrent.com. Follow him on Twitter: @MattJunker.

Laurel Parker, the children’s librarian at Windham Public Library, is retiring in early September after more than 25 years on the job.