She ‘made the library an experience’: Hampton Falls honors outgoing director

HAMPTON FALLS — The town bids farewell to one of its most dedicated public servants at the end of August, when Library Director Barbara Tosiano retires.

According to Selectman Ed Beattie, Tosiano will be missed.

“Barbara’s added programs and expanded the vision for the library to encompass the community,” Beattie said. “That’s especially true for the kids. For example, the tiles that the students at Lincoln Akerman (School) made for our Tricentennial celebration are going to be placed at the library.”

Beattie’s comments are reinforced by his fellow Selectman Lou Gargiulo, who said his interactions with Tosiano were always “very professional.”

“She’s very competent and someone who has always put the best interests of the library and the town first,” Gargiulo said. “And she’s a great advocate for the First Amendment. I wish her good health and a great retirement.”

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Tosiano came to Hampton Falls Free Library in 2014, as a library assistant but by 2015 she was the director in charge of its operations.

Her responsibilities included overseeing the library’s budget, personnel, and collections. She also organized the library's book clubs and guest speaker programs.

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According to Judy Wilson, chairwoman of the Friends of the Hampton Falls Free Library, there was never a time when Tosiano was too busy for library visitors, even leaving her busy office to help someone. In short, Wilson said, Tosiano made it easy for everyone to feel like a “Friend” of the town’s library.

“(She) never seemed to care about interruptions if it meant engaging with library patrons - from the youngest children to seniors,” Wilson said. “(Barbara) proactively created ways to welcome everyone - even if it had little to do with books - such as offering a cool respite for people without home air conditioning during summer heat spells.”

A graduate of New Jersey’s Rutgers University, Tosiano went on to get her master's in library science from Catholic University in Washington, D.C., as well as earning a certificate in public librarianship in Pennsylvania.

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Tosiano spent her entire professional career in libraries, beginning at the Fairfax Law Library in Virginia shortly after obtaining her master's in 1983. She’s held a variety of specialty positions at libraries in Virginia and Pennsylvania, as well as becoming the reference librarian at the Granite State’s Merrimack Library before coming to Hampton Falls.

Not even a worldwide pandemic forced Tosiano to leave book lovers without a resource, according to library Friend Jeannie Storer.

“The COVID lockdown was such a difficult time for so many, but (Barbara) organized it so that we could continue to enjoy reading,” Storer said. “Many thanks for holding down the fort and making so many meetings and programs available via Zoom so we could connect with friends and the rest of the world.”

Tosiano offered Hampton Falls Free Library as a center for the community’s needs, whether providing readers with discussion opportunities through book clubs, a place for hobbyists to congregate to engage in a favorite pastime, or somewhere townsfolk could gather to meet candidates before elections.

According to library Friend, Deborah Regan, the town and reading enthusiasts benefitted from Tosiano’s “insightful questions” during book club meetings as well as planning of events on any number of topics.

Tosiano is spending her last days organizing one of the biggest and most popular town-wide events of the year: Hampton Falls Free Library’s Annual Book Sale, scheduled for September 24.

Tosiano’s soliciting book donations for the event, stacking books from paperback to hardcover, fiction to non-fiction, cookbooks to children’s favorite to coffee table books, as well as organizing a bake sale through the Hampton Falls Boy Scouts so book lovers can satisfy their sweet cravings before they leave.

According to library Friend, Donna Onacki, that isn’t surprising for Tosiano was “always ready to welcome a variety of fun and interesting programs that would bring the community together.”

“(Barbara and her) staff always made each and every person coming in welcome, showing us the newly arrived book titles and promoting new programs, making a trip to the library an experience each time,” Onacki said. “Who knew that the programs during COVID via Zoom would bring people from across the Atlantic?

“Thanks for all you have done,” she added. “You will be missed.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton Falls NH Library Director Barbara Tosiano retires