When she was aged 4, Jane Gilbert opened pages to read books.

She may not have understood every word. But 'was an avaricious reader”.

Her mother told her she was reading before she went to school.

But decades on, Jane understood the reading habits of Rotorua, and in later years changed with the rapid advance of new wave technology.

She is about to retire.

'Only nine days left,” she says reticently before our interview.

We assume it was a flip remark, made with world-weariness resignation yet not really wanting it to happen.

It's time for another chapter in her life – retirement to a home in Feilding, with her husband Andy Gilbert, close to their daughter.

At 17, Jane worked as a junior with the Rotorua Library in Fenton Street. For 20 years this was designated a temporary site.

When Jane returned fulltime to the library – on working with the council at other duties and having been on her OE – the push for bigger premises came to shove.

Behind the scenes, two stalwart councillors Noel Pachoud and Rosemary Michie facilitated the move. By now the temporary premises had become a sieve – rain leaked on books leaving pools of water on the floor, popularity demanded more books, more books meant more space, and more space translated to bigger, improved premises. The shift from the porous Fenton Street Building to Arawa Street became a reality.

Jane Gilbert is the longest surviving management executive with the Rotorua Lakes Council.

Each chief executive, or town clerk, inculcated different styles. Amid a sporadic rolling door of exits, Jane kept her position. For she was able to adjust to each change in library culture, the most controversial a shared well-being hub with the Lakes District Health Board.

This innovation, as with others, has earned Jane's approval. The decision to merge the units – and space was not an issue – met with the usual opprobrium by those who oppose because whatever it is, they're against it.

This Groucho Marx observation may seem unkind, for Rosemary Michie later became an arch critic of the health link. Bit has proved a success. The naysayers have moved on.

'When I started, we didn't have computers,” Jane recalls. When one was installed, it was shared by all staff. Soon, the public could sit down to access information.

'But they [computers] have made access to information that much better.”

Soon, each book catalogued and carded eased searches as computerisation entered mindsets. Passages in books, chapters etc could now be accessed. Entering a subject in a search 'brought up a whole lot of things,” Jane says. Searching had improved. Searches cold be conducted nationally and internationally. 'It's made our lives easier in some ways,” Jane says.

E-books were also another threat to falling issues. Yet, Jane says, the public did not easily understand that E-books were restricted, that 'there are a lot of things you can't get hold of unless you get them in print.”

People could also self-publish. Public tastes were also fickle, as many preferred print books over E-books.

'The difficulty with technology is that every couple of years you have to update the technology – you have a use by date, but print doesn't.”

Jane does not read E-books often, but mixes her read of five-six books a week – mainly fiction and crime – with print, her preference.

She says fewer books are being read these days, but this is determined by the social mores – greater distractions and diverse interests, sport, gaming and television etc. She says the cycle will change again.

When the library shifted into its new building in 1991, the issues increased 'hugely” and remained study as around the country and around the world.

'If you look at the statistics around the world, reading is still regarded as the highest pastimes participated in.”

The public front of life within the library changed. The pearls and cardigan brigade had changed. People no longer spoke in sepulchral tones as the veil of silence had been lifted; now books can be purchased; a coffee vendor, selling eats like Eccles cakes, operates from within an indoor kiosk; the familiar muted connection with computer keyboards now break a not so deafening silence; staff make you feel welcome; for some it is sanctuary; for others their second home.

Two characters, regular visitors of many years ago, stood out. One was a short fellow who was a fixture around town in red socks pulled to his knees over long trousers. His name wasn't known. While appearing eccentric in dress, he was in conversation articulate and very clever, Jane recalls.

Another gentleman in a blue suit looked the part until he opened his mouth which emitted the fumes of the previous night's – or that morning's – intake from licensed premises.

One character also stood out. The late councillor Johnny Lepper, who was the town's deputy mayor. 'He couldn't see the value of a library,” Jane chortles. 'And that was tough convincing the politicians of a long time that it (the library) had some value for the community.”

The library remains popular with children and new immigrants, who found building a place to connect.

Between her first link with Rotorua Library, Jane spent four years at Northcote Library in Auckland before her OE. She and Andy returned to Rotorua to operate a picture framing and art business, which eventually became the Dawson Gallery, the gallery started by Jane's father.

Various job descriptions led to an appointment as circulation librarian before the next and rewarding steps. Seeking funds for projects had not always been easy.

She laughs as she says she has 'seen off quite a few mayors and managers in my time”.

But for the Friends of the Library group of volunteer workers, she says, the library would not have been as well serviced.

It was one of the few ‘Friends' around the country to operate strictly as a fund-raiser.

Others, she says, act as lobby groups. The local ‘Friends' raised funds for new vehicles, shelving and sundry projects over the years. In most cases, the council would not have approved for the assets the library from the local group.

The library may have reduced its intake of books over the years; soon Jane will bid adieu to her personal collection – a parting with sweet sorrow.

A round of farewells await the popular Jane Gilbert, with a special breakfast next week – to servings to one who has served Rotorua with dignity and understated decorum.