Sally Cook retiring from Du Quoin library staff

The Du Quoin Public Library at 5 p.m. on Wednesday will host a reception to thank staff member Sally Cook for her 12 years of service, first as a volunteer under library director Pam Urban starting in 2003, then as a paid parttime staff member under current director Kristina Benson and working alongside Barb Croessman.

Her retirement is only the latest chapter of lives well-lived for she and husband Bob, both federal employees who retired from the storied National Security Agency (NSA) in Fort Meade, Md. . Historically, NSA's core mission is to protect U.S. national security systems and to produce foreign intelligence information.

You would expect nothing less from a member of the Haines family. Sally's mother, the late Marybelle Haines, was instrumental in fully establishing and growing the Du Quoin library as a community resource . Sally's father, Richard Haines, Sr. had careers as state auditor and IRS staff member, then treasurer for the Hayes family. Brother Rich Haines is a financial planner and sister Mary Jo is married to retired college president and city budget consultant Chuck Novak.

After leaving the NSA to raise a family, Sally worked for the Anne Arundel County Md. public library system, which had 15 branches.

The timing was perfect as she and Bob returned to Du Quoin. "We missed a whole generation of our friends in Du Quoin," she said.

As libraries--like the world--fully embrace the digital era, Sally simply says "it's time" to retire, but she will return from time to time as a substitute. On Wednesday at 5 p.m. we have a chance to say thank you.