Blackfoot library director retiring after 45 years
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BLACKFOOT — Lisa Harral is turning a page on a new chapter of her life as she prepares to retire after 45 years.
The Blackfoot Public Library director will officially retire on January 30. The community is invited to an open house at the library from noon to 5 p.m.
“People can come and chat and share memories, which I’m hoping they will,” Harral said. “I have a lot of fond patrons, and they’re going to just have to meet me at Walmart now and shop at the same time so we can talk and catch up.”
She’d initially planned to retire at the end of 2024, but will now be saying goodbye just two days after her birthday.
“I’ve served under five mayors and five other library directors,” Harral said. “It feels really weird to be saying I’m done.”
Harral was approached by the library board to be the next director in spring 2013 when the former director left. She and her longtime colleague of over 30 years, Brenda Wilcox, hoped to be a package deal. The board could only promote one of them.
Though she lacked a master’s degree in library science, which is normally required to be a library director, Harral’s many years of experience got her the position.
Harral and Wilcox were instrumental in decades of library programs, especially children’s programming.
Wilcox called Harral the ‘go-to’ person at the library. In a 2013 interview for the Blackfoot Morning News, Wilcox added that Harral “has always had an eye to the future and how the library can best serve the present and future needs of the community.”
Harral’s goal in 2013 was to “keep the library growing and functioning.” She has similar hopes for her replacement.
“I feel very connected to our community,” Harral said. “So whoever we hire, there could be a learning curve. I have so many dreams for this library and so many things I would love to accomplish. However, the next person will come in and need to share their vision or their ideas. It’s all about the ability to make hard decisions.”
She still hasn’t run out of ideas and hopes the new director will allow her to continue to be involved in the library’s future.
One of Harral’s favorite parts of the job is the children’s annual summer reading program, which serves more than 1,000 children.
Harral’s proudest accomplishment is something she dreamt up decades ago. It didn’t become a reality until recently.
“I had a dream for a long time about that drive-through window,” Harral said. “Two directors ago, I came to him and said, ‘I really think this is our ticket; we really need to offer this service,’ and he actually gave me permission to spend time evaluating the drive-through and figure out how we could budget it.”
He left a short time later and Harral had to put her dream on hold.
In 2020, the pandemic made the library board consider the usefulness of the drive-through service. It’s now a popular and convenient service for many patrons.
Harral’s memories
Harral was raised in the Snake River area. She attended Utah State University and is a mother to three boys, one of which recently made her a grandma.
She got her start at the library part-time in 1980 when she was a high school student.
Blackfoot Public Library was in a different location back then. It was a few yards to the right in what is currently the library parking lot.
“I have fond memories of our old library. I wish that we would have taken more pictures at the time,” Harral said.
Harral started her years as a children’s librarian. The children’s department was only 3,800 square feet and was divided by two floors.
She worked in the basement at that time. Her co-worker was working a shift alone in 1987 when Paul Ezra Rhoades murdered three people in the area. Around the same time, a brick was thrown through the window of the library. Though it was unrelated, Harral says it was enough for the library to adopt a policy of always having two people on shift at the same time.
“It was a scary time,” Harral said. “And of course things continued to change. When we started in this building, we didn’t have Internet. We had a card catalog. We learned to go online.”
The current library was extensively renovated and dedicated on August 4, 1988. It’s almost 10,000 square feet today, with an additional large storage area in the basement.
During Harral’s time as director, countertops and carpet were replaced. Upgrades to the children’s area, a new computer room, a new meeting room, a project room for the staff, new furniture and setting rooms have all been added.
During fiscal year 2025, the library will be replacing computers throughout the building and upgrading technology.
Looking ahead
A new state law aimed at restricting children’s access to harmful materials in the library has been a hard adjustment for library staff, Harral says. Still, they’ve done their best to comply with the law and she’s grateful the community continues to support them.
“We did make some changes that I feel very comfortable with,” says Harral. “Our city attorney, Garrett Sandow, helped our library board interpret the bill that was placed in front of us. Hopefully, the legislation part of our job has mellowed.
“I don’t feel like we’ve had to change how we service our patrons,” she adds. “I feel sorry for our young adult patrons because I think that law impacted them the most. We’ve always thought a library is a safe place, and we work hard to make a library a safe place, especially for kids.”
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In today’s world, some say libraries are no longer needed. Harral disagrees. She says it has helpful resources available to the community, and she encourages people to support their local library.
As the search for a new library director begins, Harral hopes the board will select someone with a vision who will “dream big” and ensure the library continues to thrive.
Her advice to the next director is to “take every opportunity that’s thrown before you.”
“You jump on it and don’t pass on it,” she says.