Belleville West Honors Retiring School Librarians

Ms. Mary Barteau, Director of BW Library Services, and Mrs. Connie Culbertson, BW Librarian, retire this year after more than a decade together at Belleville West.  During their time at West, both librarians worked closely with the English department on such events as the Million Page Challenge, the Shakespeare festival, the National Day of Writing, the annual Reading Celebration Day, the Follett Challenge, and more than a dozen author visits.  Each year, they sponsored a Scholastic Book Fair, the Abraham Lincoln reading program, and the Read for a Lifetime program.

Ms. Barteau and Mrs. Culbertson made the BW Library a center of activity for students and faculty alike.  They constantly added new technology to the library facility, increased database subscriptions for student use, designed a listening room within the library, and created a green-screen room for student projects.  They opened the doors of the library for the literary magazine’s annual Poetry Cafe, for the school’s first Constitution Day this year, and for the social studies department’s Festival of Nations.

Under their watch, the BW Library was filled with students before school, after school, and during lunch hours.  Students gathered there to read, to find new books, to complete homework assignments, and to play chess.

Thank you, Ms. Barteau and Mrs. Culbertson.  Best wishes for your retirement!