At a recent Portage County Library Board of Trustees meeting, Director Bob Stack officially announced he will retire effective July 29. Stack has been with the Library for 23 years. He was promoted to Library Director in 1994, a year after his arrival.

During his tenure, more than 10 million items were borrowed; more than seven million patrons utilized library services at the four different buildings; 300,000-plus attended library-sponsored programs including the Children’s Summer Reading Program; and 125,000-plus items were delivered to Senior Centers and the Homebound.

Stack oversaw a $1 million-plus budget and up to 46 employees (including part-time). He worked closely with the Library Board of Trustees and also interacted with village representatives of Almond, Rosholt and Plover where the branch libraries are located.

Although supported by Portage County, the Public Library is impacted by state statutes which gives unique powers and responsibilities to the Library Board and provides membership in the South Central Library System.

Stack led the library through challenging times over the past two decades. Perhaps the biggest challenge was how to deal with the aftermath of the 2008 recession. Despite ranking as one of the top libraries in the state in the mid-2000’s and having an all-time high library use in 2009, Portage County Public Library was severely impacted with budget cuts when local leaders dealt with reduced tax revenues. This primarily affected the materials budget but also involved staffing and thus customer service.

Stack played a role in the library’s early adoption of the Internet at the library, in cooperation with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The library and the university’s library used telephone modems and other means to connect, and the Public Library gained access to the internet via the University. The collaboration made the Public Library one of the first places in the county to offer public internet access.

In 1997, a point-to-point digital wireless Ethernet bridge greatly increased broadband. Eventually all library buildings upgraded to fiber optic cable.

In 1999, the library was told “Y2K” would cause its catalog database to fail and the cost of a new system was out of reach. The library again turned to the University, and by the end of 1999, joined the University’s Voyager Integrated Library System. This type of cooperation was extremely rare and in 2001 and Stack was invited, along with University colleagues, to speak at the Internet Librarian Conference held in Pasadena, Calif.

Stack said he is also proud to have participated in the development of the new Rosholt Branch Library in 2013 and feels that given adequate funding, the Rosholt Branch has great potential.

As a result of the November 2014 lease renewal with the city of Stevens Point, the county will begin to repair the Stevens Point building later this year. Improved lighting and HVAC are being installed. In addition, many of the long neglected windows on the Clark Street side of the building will be replaced. Another pending improvement is the remodeling the main floor circulation area to accommodate the installation of self-check stations and RFID technology.

In May of 2015, the Portage County Library joined LINKcat, a shared integrated library system hosted by South Central Library System and comprising 47 public libraries.

The network of shared computer systems and services combines the library collections of all LINKcat libraries, giving patrons access to nearly three million items representing more than 800,000 different titles.

Stack said has been dedicated to having the best collection of traditional library materials possible within the constraints of the budget. That collection has changed dramatically in the past 23 years.

During his time as director, Stack oversaw the addition of public computers, electronic books, email used to send overdue and hold notices a Facebook page, and an active library website.

Finally, Stack is proud of hiring great staff members and maintaining many of the Library programs and services for the benefit of the tax payers of Portage County despite reduced resources.

The transition to new leadership for the county’s library system is currently under way. The Library Board is currently reviewing applications for the position and seeks to make a selection before Stack’s final day at the Library.

Stack said he fears additional cuts in the Library’s day-to-day operations. The new director must be able to navigate the new political realities of the county in order to avoid additional impairment to the library’s public mission.

Despite past, present and future challenges, Stack said he believes that the Library is in good hands thanks to its dedicated staff and Library Board.