FARMINGTON – Books will still be the focus for Jean Oplinger, Farmington Public Library’s librarian, when she starts a second career this summer. Oplinger has decided to retire after 20 years as librarian to start part-time work at home as a book indexer.

An old profession, she said, indexers read a book then create the index for the publisher. Many publishing houses have reduced costs by eliminating staff and instead create freelance work that can be done with a computer.

Interestingly enough, she said, she knows of other people in Franklin County who work as indexers. One who works as a journal indexer, another as a medical indexer and one who has worked for 20 years on scholarly works and encyclopedias.

Library Association Treasurer Richard Morton said, “Oplinger has been a terrific asset. The library has become computerized and the technology level has increased dramatically under her leadership. She has been great at finding grants and financial opportunities for computer software and has worked through the state library to improve and advance the library. Her skills and the skills of her workers to help the library develop has been extremely successful and we’re grateful for her services.”

Oplinger came to Farmington from Ohio when her husband, John, was hired as a professor at the University of Maine at Farmington. During her time as librarian here, she has seen some definite changes.

Perhaps one of the biggest, she said, is the use of library cards. When she started, there were no cards. Patrons chose a book, went to the front desk and their names were written in the back. While it may have worked for the last 100 years, the state’s confidentiality laws required patrons to have a number.

“Patrons used to like to see who else had read the book,” she said, “thinking that if this person had read it then perhaps I should, too.”

Other changes have included automation at the library, Internet capability and an addition to the library. With the help of the Maine State Library, she said, this library, along with many other small town libraries, has become more professional, keeps more statistics and has better educational opportunities for library directors.

The library patrons have changed somewhat over the years, she said. There are fewer school-age children visiting the library than when she started. School children tend to stop coming around third to fourth grade but then come back while they are in high school. Many UMF students are also card holders. The university takes care of lawn and snow removal for the library in exchange.

“I don’t believe people read as much as they used to. Some used to take out a slew of books at a time; now that’s the exception. As the population here ages, we have seen an increase in the number of large print books picked up,” she said.

Requests for books on tape are also increasing. With less time to read, many patrons, she feels, would rather listen to the tapes and CDs.

The library’s Web site, www.farmington.lib.me.us, lists new books and gives patrons an opportunity to see if the book they want is available.

A new feature on the Web site, Diversions, is one that she has wanted to do for a couple years, she said. Last fall she was approached by the Creative Writing Department at the University of Maine at Farmington and now the library has two creative writing interns who post their work on the site every week, a mixture of book reviews and short essays.