By Matt de Simone
For Sarah Rodgers, the path to becoming branch manager of the Fincastle Library wasn’t a straight line, but it’s one she now describes as a natural fit.
“I’ve been in libraries now 20 years,” Rodgers said. “I worked in libraries in college and when I graduated, I just needed a job. I applied for a full-time position … but I was actually working on my teaching degree at the time. Once I got into libraries, I realized how much I loved it and how much I didn’t like teaching.”
Rodgers joined the Fincastle Library in January 2022 after years working in neighboring systems. What she found in Botetourt County was something different: the chance to step beyond a single role.
“In Botetourt, we’re a smaller team, and I get to wear more hats and do different things,” she said.
Those “hats” extend far beyond what many might expect of a library branch manager. In addition to overseeing daily operations, Rodgers serves as a liaison to several community and historical groups, coordinates volunteers across the county’s library system, helps manage a digital memory collection, and works closely with genealogy and local history resources.
“I interview them, do background checks, do orientation, and then they can begin volunteering,” she said of her role as volunteer coordinator. “We’re a very small team.”
Her background in public history has also found a home in Botetourt, where she helps curate local collections and organize historical programming. That includes bringing in speakers, coordinating with authors, and building connections that stretch beyond the library’s walls.
A typical day, she said, is anything but predictable.
“Working with the public, there’s never a typical day,” Rodgers said. “I’m working the desk, but then it’s working with community groups, planning adult programming, having presenters come in for history talks, making connections in the community … it all goes into my workflow.”
Still, there are rhythms. One of the busiest stretches comes each afternoon when materials arrive from across a regional network that includes Roanoke County, Roanoke City, and Salem.
“For about an hour, hour and a half in the afternoon, it’s all the staff sorting the totes, scanning items, getting holds on the shelf,” she said. “Sometimes we’ll have up to 16 totes.”
Photos by Matt de Simone
Beyond logistics, much of Rodgers’ work centers on helping people navigate everyday challenges– often in ways that go unnoticed.
She recalled one man who came in facing both a language barrier and the recent loss of his wife, unsure how to handle important documents.
“He would just say, ‘I don’t know what form I need,’” Rodgers said. “We would go online, clarify what he needed, help him get documents together. I was calling the circuit court… we really try to help people.”
Moments like that underscore how much libraries have evolved in recent years.
“I think one thing that people still assume about libraries is that we just have books,” she said. “And really, we’ve become a lot more than that.”
Today, the Fincastle Library, and the other libraries in the county, function as a community hub–offering digital services, notary assistance, public computers, and meeting space for a wide range of groups. Homeschool families gather there to socialize. Remote workers use it as a change of pace. New residents find connections through storytimes, book clubs and volunteer opportunities.
“It’s free. You don’t have to buy anything to stay,” Rodgers said. “That’s something that’s very rare in today’s society.”
For Rodgers, the most meaningful part of the job is watching those connections take root and grow over time.
“I love being in a place where you can develop relationships and see how people change and grow,” she said. “People really rely on the library for different things. And being able to meet those needs and really help people is what drives me.”
Those relationships can last years– even decades. Rodgers shared one example of a friendship that began through a library book club and continued until the woman’s death years later.
“Being in the library gives me that opportunity,” she said.
It’s also why she pushes back on one of the most common misconceptions about her work.
“I hope people understand that we don’t sit around and read all day,” Rodgers said with a laugh. “Libraries have evolved … we try to adapt to meet the needs of the community, no matter what that is.”
That adaptability was especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, when libraries expanded digital offerings and found new ways to serve patrons remotely.
“The joy of working in libraries is that it’s never the same,” she said. “It’s constantly changing, and it’s all to make the community a better place.”
For those who haven’t stepped inside a library in years, Rodgers has a simple message: things have changed.
“They’re missing out,” she said.
She recently met a man who hadn’t used a library since the 1970s, when Fincastle’s first branch was housed in the Old Jail. His reaction, she said, is a common one.
“He came in and said, ‘Wow, you guys have so much now,’” Rodgers said. “People are always surprised by how much we offer.”
And that, she added, is part of the mission– meeting people where they are, and showing them what a modern library can be.
