Closing the Book

library director Stoneberg retires after 38-year career

Tom Giffey, photos by Andrea Paulseth |

SHELVING HIS CAREER. John Stoneberg retired Jan. 1 after spending 38 years working at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library in Eau Claire.
SHELVING HIS CAREER. John Stoneberg retired Jan. 1 after spending 38 years working at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library in Eau Claire.

When John Stoneberg began his job in Eau Claire as a fresh-out-of-grad-school reference librarian in 1977, “We just had a long reference desk with absolutely nothing on it but a blotter and a black rotary phone,” he recalled. There were reference works, pamphlets, and microfilm at hand, but good, old-fashioned books – located with the help of Dewey Decimal System numbers typed onto index cards in the card catalog – were the library’s bread and butter.

“If we’re going to continue to be a community investment, a community treasure, we have to show that we are more than just a warehouse of materials.” – John Stoneberg, retiring director of the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library

Fast-forward 38 years to Stoneberg’s retirement, which was effective Jan. 1, and the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library is a very different place – figuratively speaking, at least. Those Dewey Decimal index cards vanished long ago and were replaced (virtually) by an online catalog and (physically) by a computer lab. The library’s collection of 16mm films (mostly documentaries) was replaced by Betamax and VHS videos and then DVDs. (In the early 1980s, “We were literally the first video store in town,” recalled Stoneberg, a film buff whose personal collection is big enough to outfit a small library.) When Stoneberg started, the library had a collection of 9,000 LP records. Those were replaced by cassettes and later CDs; now, the library gives patrons access to a service called Freegal, which offers free music downloads as well as a streaming service. Back then, patrons browsed best-sellers on the bookshelves; they still do that today – but now they can check out iPads, too.

“The library always tried to reflect society,” explained Stoneberg in an interview last month. “We’ve always managed to keep up with the interests of our customers and responded to what their interests were, whether it be changing formats, changing technology, and even changing subjects.”

That’s meant librarians have had to keep abreast of changing technologies and changing tastes. “We’ve always had really smart, dedicated, and curious staff,” he said.

Stoneberg was born into a military family, so he grew up (in his words) “nowhere and everywhere” before graduating from high school in his father’s hometown of Tomahawk. After getting a bachelor’s degree in history from UW-Whitewater, Stoneberg graduated from UW-Madison in 1977 with a master’s degree in library science. That October he began work at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library just 11 months after the building opened. (The current library, 400 Eau Claire St., replaced the 1904 Carnegie Library, which is now part of City Hall a block away on Farwell Street.)

“It was a really gorgeous library,” he recalled. “I had visited Eau Claire a few times, and I liked the city.” Stoneberg spent more than 20 years working as a reference librarian before becoming assistant director in 2003 and director in 2008. Among his first duties as director was overseeing the only major renovation in the building’s history, a $1.6 million project that, among other things, revamped the Youth Services area, created a new circulation desk, and made space for patrons to pick up materials that have been put on hold.

While media formats and technology have changed, Stoneberg said that library patrons haven’t. “They still have a lot of questions – on the phone, in person,” he said. “They, of course, have different informational needs than they did before. … Most of the simple questions, most people can get (answers) off of Google. Before, in the early ’80s, someone would call and want to know what’s the capital of Afghanistan. (Now) they can look that up. So what really has happened is questions have gotten harder, because if they can’t figure out how to find the answer to their question, that’s when they come to us.”

Sometimes, those questions have to do with finding basic services – such as emotional, financial, or housing assistance – and helping these patrons is one of the most gratifying parts of the job, Stoneberg said.

Even as he enters retirement, Stoneberg is contemplating what’s next for the library – both in Eau Claire and in society. “The most important thing that came about in the 21st century is the idea of a library as a place,” he said. “We’re often referred to as a third place” – in other words, a location other than the home and the workplace where people feel comfortable meeting, sharing, and creating. Stoneberg said the library is focusing on letting the public know about its services as well as improving and changing its programming, specifically in the do-it-yourself realm. He envisions the library providing more “makerspace”-style resources for those who want to learn to write computer code, fix their bikes, or even sew.

“If we’re going to continue to be a community investment, a community treasure, we have to show that we are more than just a warehouse of materials,” Stoneberg said.

Stoneberg announced his retirement in July, hoping to allow time for the hiring of a replacement before he officially stepped down Jan. 1. However, the library board wasn’t satisfied with the applicants for the position, so they launched a second search starting Dec. 1. Library board president Bob Hauser said he hopes the board makes a decision on a new director by the end of February. Until then, the library’s youth services manager, Shelly Collins-Fuerbringer, will serve as interim director.

As for his retirement, Stoneberg is hoping to have more time to volunteer, hike, bike, and spend time with his family, which includes two adult children and three grandchildren, all of them in the Chippewa Valley. “I’m really ready for the next adventures in life, and I’m not sure necessarily what those are,” he said.