Oral history interview with Catharine Hays

Oral history interview with Catharine Hays

Catharine Hays describes starting as director of the Bixby Memorial Free Library in Vergennes, Vermont, during the COVID-19 pandemic, including interviewing for the position over Zoom. She initially began work remotely until she was able to move to Vermont in the summer of 2020. Throughout the pandemic, the Bixby Library continued to serve the community and promote its mission as a library. Hays touches on various changes made to library operations and funding during the pandemic, such as curbside pick-up, transitioning programming to virtual formats, losing volunteers, the temporary suspension of interlibrary loan, and the availability of ARPA grants. She also describes her collaborations with other community leaders, noting that their goals were to coordinate services, improve communication, and provide each other with support. She mentions the usefulness of guidance from the Vermont Department of Libraries and other sources, emphasizing how Vermont's small size fostered communication and resource sharing during the pandemic. She conveys the belief that it "doesn't matter whether you were born and raised here or not, if you were helping the people of Vermont to survive and thrive through this...horrible situation, you're... a Vermonter."

Catharine Findiesen Hays decided to transition careers and return to her family's home in Panton, Vermont, in 2020. She became the Director of the Bixby Memorial Free Library in Vergennes, Vermont, in May 2020. Previously, she held in leadership positions at AT&T and in the Eastern Division of the American Cancer Society. She was Founding Executive Director of the Wharton Future of Marketing/Adver​tising Program.

Sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-251676-OMS-22.

2024-08

Collecting COVID-19: A Vermont Story Project

AudioFileCOVID-061

MP3

WAV

Audio file

Permission to publish material from the Collecting COVID-19: A Vermont Story Project may be obtained from the Vermont Historical Society.

Bosek, Marcia Sue DeWolf

Hays, Catharine, 1958-

44 min., 47 sec.

Vermont Historical Society Library, 60 Washington Street, Barre, VT 05641-4215