Shelby County libraries make plans for ‘blessing’ of $1M gift

Thelma Mueller was a card-carrying member of Shelby County’s library system and a regular at  Somerby Senior Living’s book club. But her love of reading extended far deeper than most people knew.

After her death on Feb. 21, 2018, Mueller bequeathed a gift of $1 million to Shelby County libraries.

“It’s an incredible blessing. It is manna from heaven and it is an incredibly generous act,” Library Board of Trustees Chairman Michael Smith said.

It was a gift so large and unexpected, Chief Operating Officer Phil Burns said, that at first the county didn’t believe it was real when they were notified last fall. Only after extensive vetting, he said, did the library start making plans for how to put that money to its best use at the Harrison Regional Library and 13 other libraries in the Shelby County system.

BIG PLANS

With $1 million at their disposal, Smith said the board of trustees and individual library directors have been taking their time in getting input on how it should be used.

He said one of the most important decision-making factors is long-term impact. Mueller’s donation is far above and beyond the libraries’ normal operating budget, and Smith and Burns both said they didn’t want to implement programs or equipment that they couldn’t afford to pay for in a few years.

“The beauty of it is we don’t feel in a rush to go out and invest the money overnight,” Smith said.

That means talking to each library director about their needs, reviewing data on library usage and looking at trends in the region and nationwide. As of 280 Living’s press date, Smith said many specifics are still uncertain for the projects that the libraries are planning. 

The library system’s broad goals are to increase patron participation, improve efficiency and set up the individual libraries for long-term success and community service. 

“We want to be that resource in the community,” Smith said, noting that Shelby County’s libraries provide visitors with far more than just books, from video services and downloadable content to programs and job search tools.

While some of the system’s plans are still up in the air, several technology upgrades are being planned with the $1 million gift. 

Burns said work has already begun to revamp the library system’s website with interactive content and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance.

Behind the scenes, Burns said older servers and computers will be replaced for more security and better efficiency. 

“The servers are really aging,” he said. “… This is a great opportunity to get [the library system’s] operational efficiency up to speed.”

Burns said he planned to present options for those replacements to the library board around late March. He said they are also looking for opportunities to replace software that the libraries are paying to lease each month, which could benefit their future financial health. Burns compared it to the opportunity to pay off a car loan “rather than just buy cool stuff.”

The server and computer replacements are expected to cost around $100,000, Burns said, and should be quick to complete once a decision is made.

They will also work on improving the systems that enable the libraries to work together cooperatively, such as when patrons check out a book at one library but return it to a different one. 

Burns said there are many options still under consideration on the best way to do that. 

GETTING TO KNOW MUELLER 

When the library system was informed of Mueller’s $1 million gift, Burns said most library and county employees didn’t know much about her.

Dee Green, who works at North Shelby Library and helped lead the book club at Somerby, said she met Mueller a few times and remembered her as down-to-earth, “wicked smart” and “just the sweetest lady.”

“She loved her books and she loved libraries,” Green said.

Despite their conversations about books, Green said Mueller never gave an indication of her plans to donate to Shelby County’s libraries. Green said she would love the opportunity to let Mueller’s family know how thankful she and other staff members are for the gift.

“What a blessing it is for us. But she gave no indication to me at all. She just talked about how much she loved the library and how much she loved reading,” Green said.

Over the past several months, the library staff has been researching more information on Mueller’s unassuming life. According to that research, which Burns provided, Mueller was born Thelma Vaughan and was raised in Birmingham. She joined the U.S. Foreign Service and met her husband in the German Air Force, but they later divorced and she never had children.

Mueller wrote short stories and opinion pieces for different print and online resources, including the Birmingham News and the Tuscaloosa News, and she published two books of short stories, “How Cancer Saved My Life and Other Stories” and “Perspectives: Short Stories,” in 2011 and 2015.

Muller also achieved a doctoral degree in psychology and she worked as a psychiatric social worker at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, before becoming a professor of social work at University of Alabama.

Adrienne Nettles, the UA School of Social Work’s communication specialist, said Mueller was one of the department’s first field instructors when it opened in 1967. 

In 1979, Mueller  secured a $1 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, the largest in the school’s history at that time, and she was later named an associate professor emerita.

A breast cancer survivor of many years, Mueller was also described as a lover of flowers. Her memorial service was held at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens in April 2018.

Though they didn’t know her in life, Smith said the library system is committed to giving Mueller the recognition “she never asked for.”

“She didn’t take that money and buy her name on anything. It was just an act of kindness,” he said.

Smith said they plan to include information about Mueller and her gift on the system’s website, and they are buying copies of books she published to place on the shelves in each library. 

“We want to honor and respect her because of her generosity,” Smith said.