SHS Librarian Starts a New Chapter

Our beloved Librarian, Mrs. Feeney, is retiring from Scituate High School as of January 27, 2016. Although she will no longer be seen every day in the library, her influence will never leave our community.

Her lifelong dream wasn’t to be a high school Librarian, but she couldn’t be happier where she ended up. Growing up in Dorchester, Massachusetts, she was the oldest of seven and learned responsibility quickly. After high school, she went to Bridgewater State College (now Bridgewater State University), graduating in 1976 with a B.A. in Secondary Education English.

Feeney’s first job after college was as an English teacher. In high school, she had one specifically good English teacher who stuck out to her and inspired her to go into the field herself.

She then moved to Florida, where she was a high school English teacher for one year. Not much later, Feeney decided to become a librarian. She then moved back to Massachusetts and went back to school at Bridgewater for a Master’s in Education in School Librarianship. During this time, she worked for five years as a technical writer for an insurance company.

Two weeks after graduating in 1976, Feeney married her husband. In 1980, her first child, Katie, was born. In 1982, her son, Dennis, was born.

In 1985, Feeney got her first job as the school librarian at Hull Memorial Middle School for two years. Next, she went to Plymouth to be an elementary school librarian for three years. After this, she began her work in Scituate. She was the Gates Intermediate School librarian in 1992, and in 1998, she became the librarian at SHS and has been working here ever since.

Being a librarian allows Feeney to do what she really enjoys, including reading books. There is no concrete schedule to follow, which takes away a lot of unnecessary stress.

Some of her favorite books to read are mysteries in places such as England, Norway, Iceland, etc., which are all, coincidentally, places she has visited. She has also been to Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Australia, China, Spain, and Canada. Although she has been to many places, Feeney says Iceland is her favorite.

It has always been a dream of hers to see the Northern Lights. Norway is the best place to see them, so she traveled to Norway, where she, her husband and her son, unfortunately, did not see the lights. On the way back from Norway, there was an automatic layover in Iceland, so they stayed a few days. They took a bus to Reykjavik, Iceland, on January 1, where they saw the Northern Lights. This was special to the family because Feeney’s mother had recently passed away that December, and January 1 was her birthday.

In her retirement, Feeney plans to travel to places such as Disney in April, where her niece’s wedding will be held. She also plans to visit her sister, who has a condo in Maui, Hawaii.

Although leaving Scituate High School will be very different for her, Feeney is ready for it. She has been working for 35 years, and she is ready to relax. She will be able to spend more time with her grandchildren and “clean her house thoroughly, for once,” she said.

Junior Henry McKain said, “Her knowledge of the library and its surroundings are astounding, and she is truly an integral part of student life at Scituate High School.” The Scituate High School community will never be the same without Feeney in the library every day, always eager to help the entire community, including faculty and students, with anything they need.

Feeney spread a lot of knowledge to many of her students. As a librarian, she has lots of experience with reading, and therefore has developed a deep vocabulary. Her favorite word is resilience. To her, resilience is when you can “bounce back.” Feeney said, “If something makes you upset, and you’re really bothered by it, resilience is when you can deal with it and get back to regular life.” Feeney loves this word because she says everyone needs resilience; it may be hard, but you have to work at it in order to succeed.