Retiring Library Director Fell in Love With Simsbury's People, Facilities and Natural Beauty

For retiring library director Sue Bullock there’s many positives in Simsbury but her first love was its trees.

“I fell in love with the Sycamores driving into town on a March day,” she said, adding that she thought, “If they care about nature, they care about everything else.”

It was 1996 and Bullock was library director in Meriden and already had 20 years of administrative experience.

She wasn’t so sure about moving to a smaller town but thought she’d go for an interview. Of course it took more than trees to sway her opinion but she also fell in love with the people and the Simsbury Public Library itself.  

It’s one reason she fought for keeping its courtyard and adding natural light features when the library expanded, a project passed by voters in June of 2008.

“It makes you feel good,” she said. “It’s very expansive.”

Bullock said she’s had amazing support from the town, the library’s board of directors as well as the friends of the library.

But initiatives can be expensive and Bullock calls herself a “professional beggar.” 

“Finding the money is what people in this job do,” she said.

Despite the space filled by the written page, libraries are usually on the cutting edge of technology, Bullock said.

They were an early provider of the Internet and even today give access to those without it, she said. It’s the number one use of libraries, she said.

“That’s why it’s so important for libraries to be in the lead,” she said.

In Simsbury, she foresees the creation of a creative space, sometimes referred to a maker’s space, where patrons come together, teach each other skills and print out physical creations via a 3D printer.

It’s just one idea that is infiltrating libraries, she said.

“It’s just amazing what’s coming down the pike,” she said. “(Libraries) are very much into looking forward.”

Bullock’s love of books goes way back to her childhood. Her Hungarian parents ended up in Argentina, where she lived until she was 10 years old. Books were scarce in the provinces where she lived and she and her sisters got one each at Christmas time.

“We pretty much memorized them because they were very scarce,” she said.

When the family moved to Danbury, she discovered the library, working as a page as young as 14.

She’s also worked as a short-order cook and stocker and for several years in factories.

“I learned a lot about human nature,” she said. 

Later in life while working as a “corridor counselor” at Westover School she befriended librarians.

“I realized the people I most admired were librarians,” she said.

Having a degree from Vassar College, Bullock went to Southern Connecticut State University for her master’s.

She later went to work in Cheshire, spending three years as an assistant director then director for seven. She then spent 11 years in Meriden before coming to Simsbury.

“I have loved working in Simsbury,” she said. “It’s been a town really like no other. I’m so grateful I ended up here.”

Bullock loves in a small Massachusetts town and plans to spend more time outdoors.

She will also spend time with family and friends in Colorado, where she plans to stay for three months.

And of course, Bullock plans to be a frequenter of libraries everywhere.

The public is invited to a celebration in Bullock’s honor from 2 to 4 p.m. on June 23. It will take place at the library with a presentation at 3 p.m.