by Gage Matthieu
Originally published in The Madisonville Meteor on 1/8/2025
The local library is the place where the pages of history relax on the shelves of their new homes, and librarian Veronica Landmann has been dutifully tending to the needs of the books, the seniors, and the youth for over 25 years. In a recent interview with The Meteor, she spoke of the challenges and the rewards a life of serving the county has brought her in over two decades of service.
In her youth in the early 1970’s, Landmann spent much of her life surrounded by books. From Peter Rabbit to Little House on the Prairie, the allure of worlds not of our own kept the future librarian enthused throughout the late 90’s, until she found herself in the local Madison County Library.
On a temporary hiatus from teaching at St. Joseph School in Bryan, Landmann walked into the library with her two children and the librarian at the time almost immediately asked her if she possessed any sort of degree. She did, and upon relaying this information, the librarian informed Landmann that day was her last, and the county had been frantically searching for a replacement. Landmann went to the courthouse that very same Wednesday and filled out an application. By the following Tuesday, Landmann had become the Madison County Librarian.
A little over 25 years later and with retirement just over the horizon, Landmann told The Meteor, “It’s been genuinely fulfilling to help children connect with a book and watch them become voracious readers over the years.” When one has been in a position influential to children for a couple of generations, watching those they have helped become active participants in the community is likely a type of salary on its own. Few go into the librarian profession with the intent of becoming a magnate.
Landmann looks forward to each new day and the challenges, obstacles, or veritably touching moments that come her way. From the senior citizen needing assistance with the creation of an email address to the teenager looking for their first fiction novel, the local library often holds the keys to much more than just books.
Patrons who don’t own computers of their own may come and use the libraries, and those who don’t own computers are much less likely to know how to use them in the first place. They likely found out decades ago that the local librarian is more than willing to help them, and Landmann has done this dutifully throughout her career. In fact, even with larger societal issues at play, she is familiar with reports of libraries waning in usefulness, though she sees Madison County’s library as nowhere near obsolete or irrelevant.
Options at local libraries tend to expand with the lack of resources elsewhere, contrary to what is typically the inverse. When people can’t get help where they need it, they will often find themselves at the library. For Madison County, Landmann attests to feeling useful and relevant every day. With Caroline Duke and Frieda Michael helping her, they see folks turn up seeking assistance with job applications, resumes, navigating websites, applying for social security, and dozens of other little details of a daily life that may arise.
The little library standing obdurate on May Street since 1969 has evolved to meet society’s needs that have grown up around it, yet its curators still seek out new ways to innovate. This past fall saw the library’s annual Storytime Kickoff, an event that grows in attendance each year. Library staff invite local law enforcement and fire departments to bring their service vehicles out to the library’s parking lot for the children to take photos of and explore, with library tours for children and stories that keep them coming back. Children form early, positive memories of the library in this manner, and the presence of service vehicles may provide an association of safety with the library as well.
Through state censorship challenges, funding issues, wildlife sneaking into the building, water leaks, and anything else that has come her way, Veronica Landmann has stuck through it all to educate and satiate the appetite for any world that may exist under the library’s vast umbrella.
As she looks forward to retirement, Landmann rests easy knowing that, “What I do matters, libraries matter, and our community proves this to us every day.”