Melbourne Beach Library celebrates 100-year-old patron's love of books
MELBOURNE BEACH — Betty Pappas has always been an avid reader. At 100 years old, the Indialantic resident visits the Melbourne Beach Library at least once a week with her daughter Sandy Grunewald to pick up six or seven books. The following week, she returns the stack for a new set.
It’s a routine she’s maintained for longer than she can remember, she said.
“I just picked up a book and I got so interested in it that I kept on reading, and I finished it. Then I started another one, and then I realized I can read a book a day, and no matter how thick it is, I can still manage to read a book a day,” Pappas said. Sometimes she gets up as early as 4 a.m. to start a book and likes to spend her days in a comfy chair reading.
Pappas, who celebrated her 100th birthday Jan. 7, enjoys books by Leon Uris, Ken Follett and David Baldacci. But her favorite stories are Danielle Steel’s romance novels.
"I think when she first started (writing), I must have started reading her,” Pappas said. “I got ahold of one (of her books) and it sounded good, so I kept going."
Her favorite works of Steel’s are "Palomino," "Thurston House," and her more recently published 2019 novel "Spy," which Pappas read about a week ago.
For Pappas, reading is a great form of entertainment and escapism.
“People say, ‘Oh, it’s just a story.’ But I like those,” she said.
It’s a passion she instilled in her family. With three children, five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, Pappas can see her love of reading even in her youngest family members.
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“My little great-grandchildren like to read or look at pictures,” she said. “They always bring a book over and shove it to you to read it, and we read it.”
Grunewald said as a kid in New Jersey, Pappas helped spark her love of reading.
“She used to take me years ago to this place in New Jersey, and it was like a farmer’s market, and I used to pick out like five Nancy Drew books,” Grunewald said.
She added she’d be so engrossed that when Pappas would call her to dinner, she’d struggle to pull herself away from the books.
A Quiet Life
Aside from reading, Pappas said her life is fairly quiet. She can’t get around like she used to, but she and Grunewald enjoy visiting local restaurants for steak or tacos, and shopping for clothes when they can.
During her younger years, Pappas lived in California, New York and New Jersey, moving to Florida in the 1970s to be closer to family and to enjoy the warmer weather. While up north, she worked for RKO Radio Pictures and modeled.
As a child and teen, she played multiple sports, including basketball, swimming and her favorite, tennis. Her love of tennis carried into adulthood, and she played up until she was almost 80 years old.
“If I could walk, I would still be playing tennis,” she said.
Now, she enjoys watching almost any sport with her family and neighbors, who often visit for drinks and dinner. When people ask what her secret to a long life is, she answers with a gleam of mischief in her eye.
“You want to get old? Drink zinfandel,” she said. She added the wine pairs well with a bowl of Cheetos.
A Beloved Patron
At Melbourne Beach Library, Pappas is well-known among staff.
“At least 60% of the patrons that come in fairly regularly, I could call them out by name when they walk in,” said Gerri O’Connell, a librarian at Melbourne Beach Library. “I think for this area, where the first four to six months of the year, it’s snowbirds, that the others that are regulars here all year — that makes them feel special.”
O’Connell has been at the library about three years and came to know Pappas quickly, with the number of books Pappas checked out each week catching O’Connell’s attention.
While Pappas has a collection of books at home, she said she prefers going to the library rather than buying most of the books she likes to read.
“I used to go out and buy them, but here, they have so many — why should you buy them?” she said. “I’ve got a load of things in my library at home (and) I’ve been giving them away — you know, you can have just so many books, and then they get moldy.”
She also said she never wants to read on a Kindle or other device.
“I want the book. That’s why I come here, to get the book,” she said. “I want to be able to hold it.”
Saturday, O’Connell and others at the library helped set up a small celebration for Pappas in honor of her love of reading. They set out vases made of old books filled with roses and lined a table with some of Pappas’ favorite novels.
Grunewald said the library staff’s affection for her mother meant the world to both of them.
“Most people, they know the people that come to the library, but (O’Connell) got such a kick out of Mom coming every week and taking Danielle Steel books out,” she said. “And the fact that when she comes in, they go, ‘Oh, hey, Betty!’ She loves it. It’s kind of personal and loving.”
Finch Walker is a Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @_finchwalker
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Melbourne Beach Library celebrates 100-year-old woman who reads a book a day
