SPEAKER_01 0:00

Well, we're really excited because we're getting our own building, which um will be more central. So right now we we store um two of our vehicles in a big garage. So we have to go in the morning, start really early, go pick it up, come back, load it all up. That will all be right there and it'll be easily accessible. And I'm really hoping that uh we can really get, you know, we have a staff and we just added new members. So we're getting them trained and getting them so they can drive so that they can take the story times on the road, so we can do those after school little projects with the kids, STEM projects, and be out in there, um, out in the neighborhoods and stuff.

Lara Griffin 0:53

Welcome to the Rockford Public Library Podcast. I'm Lara Griffin, your host. Today we're joined by longtime author, historian, storyteller, and manager of the RPL Mobile Library, Kathy Crussel. She helps bring library services directly into neighborhoods, schools, and community spaces across Rockford. Today we'll discuss her time at the library, the impact of the mobile, and her latest book, Haunted Rock River Valley. Welcome, Kathy. Hello, thank you for having me. So tell us how your journey began with the Rockford Public Library.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

Okay. I used to work at the school district as a library parer. Um, and then I decided to stay home and homeschool my children, which worked really wonderful. Um it was great, but I needed to talk to adults. So I came here and got a job in the evening as a page. I started here 27 years ago as a page. Okay, and what can you tell us what a page is? Um they used to, we used to have pages and they put away books. Now we don't have pages anymore, but um we we uh yeah, they take the books, put them in order, put them back on the shelves.

Lara Griffin 2:08

I love that that you started here as a page and you've moved your way along. You've also been the uh manager of the Montague branch as well. Correct. And you did the Montague branch and the mobile library when we had one vehicle. You did that, yes. So, how have you seen the library and community evolve together?

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Um, what I I love about RPL is it, you know, we've been here for 155, 57 years at this point, and we have been able to figure out that in order to continue, we need to stay relevant. And what I love about we've adjusted what the community's needs have adjusted. So we have been able to continue our services, basically um pinpointing what the community needs and um being out in the community, getting that information, and then adjusting our our programs, our facilities for whatever is needed.

Lara Griffin 3:13

That's awesome. And like for you, like what's your how how has your heart grown for the library over this time? Because like just to think about you being a part of Monague and then wanting to take on the mobile library as well, like tell tell me about like how like your heart for the library.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

Um I I love I've loved this library forever. I used it before I even started working here, but it it really um brings it home to you. Uh, I as a little girl, um, we moved around a lot, and I would find the library, the public library, as soon as we found it, because it was kind of like that was my only friend at the time, you know. I would go get my books, and but this this library, um, we've really, like I said, adjusted to what the community needs. But I have my heart is for the community and for being the library and and helping connect people with what they need. And this this job allows me to do that, and moving from uh brick and mortar building um to I was a manager of Brockton Center branch a long time ago. And then COVID hit, and when we first started planning the mobile library, I was able to do that even though I didn't think I'd be the manager. So I got to pick where like what body style we were gonna get, what we were gonna do. It was fun, and um but never thinking I'd be the manager. But then COVID hit and we had to close two of our branches. So mobile went from in addition to these other branches to now we are closing two branches. How are we gonna pick up the slack? So that really changed how we looked at it. And when um Lynn at Steinbrook asked me to be the manager of it, I uh I was so honored because it really helped me um that I had a good community background so that I was able to take that on and um you know bring uh the connections that I had already made through our uh through the library into a whole different area of of mobile library.

Lara Griffin 5:27

So can you describe more about what the mobile library is and how it gets around and how people can find out um where you'll be?

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Sure. Uh we go to a variety of places. We have a variety of stops. We have we stop at senior places, we go to after-school programs, we go to daycares, and we're interacting with people all the time. And then we have neighborhood stops as well. So um if you're going shopping, we might be in the shopping center where you're going shopping at. Or if you're in a neighborhood and can't get out to a shopping, we might be closer to where you live. So we try to plan stops that way. We have 45-minute stops, and people can find us on the website. We have our listings every day telling where we're gonna be. And then if you go a little farther into the banner that has the mobile library, the big mobile library on there. Now we have three, but the big one, and you click on that one, there is a map, an interactive map. So you can kind of like, oh, I'm gonna be at Target on Saturday. Maybe you see where we're gonna be on Saturday if we're gonna be somewhere where you're gonna be, and you can see all that right on a map.

Lara Griffin 6:40

Yeah, and I love how you were saying that with a few of the branches that closed um in the last few years, that the mobile library has become a like a place that people like closer, easier access for those in the community. So um so why do you think it's important to have this mobile library?

SPEAKER_01 7:06

Um you know it really is about access. That's what Rockford Public Library has done for a hundred and some years. We have brought access in one way or another to to our people, to the community. And what this has done is so you don't have to, oh my gosh, I've got four kids. Do I have time to get to to the library, get what we need, and get out of there and still make it to all of this stuff. Well, we're out there, you know, people are more mobile now than ever. They they bank from their phones, they do everything um mobile as you're moving there constantly. So we're we're we're out there and helping people in the in the neighborhoods, especially some, you know, we have some families that their access is not um what we would all want it to be. But this helps them with that. They can come on board, they can get a library card, we do story times out and about. We do, and now we've added the digilibrary. We offer computer uh classes, you can come do a project with us, and we'll be there to guide you through it. So it really um we offer so many different kinds of things, and we bring it right to your neighborhood. So um that is really the key is access.

Lara Griffin 8:26

And I love that you're meeting different ages and such a diverse group of people, and you're also going to distances where people it's harder for people to even get to the library. So um, and just even thinking about our summer reading challenge, that because of the mobile library, so many people signed up for it because it I think you're meeting people where they're at versus like dragging people yes, trying to how do we get them in here?

SPEAKER_01 9:01

Well, we just pull up to their door.

Lara Griffin 9:06

So, so what is your vision um for the future of the mobile um library and its services?

SPEAKER_01 9:13

Um well, we're really excited because we're getting our own building, which um will be more central. So, right now we we store um two of our vehicles in a big garage. So we have to go in the morning, start really early, go pick it up, come back, load it all up. That will all be right there and it'll be easily accessible. And I'm really hoping that uh we can really get, you know, we have uh staff and we just added new members. So we're getting them trained and getting them so they can drive, so that they can take the story times on the road, so we can do those after school little projects with the kids, STEM projects, and be out in there, um, out in the neighborhoods and stuff. So I can see this just growing. And now that we have a good base with three different sizes, we have the 32-foot vehicle, we have one that's about 25 to 26 feet long, and that can get us in on the smaller roads, the older neighborhoods. And then we have the Digi, which is a van, but it um it is specially set up so that we can go into the neighborhoods and take computers with us. And so you don't have to have a computer, you can come to us, and we've set it up in community centers that have printing available, so you can come and work on a print uh project and print it right from there. So I can see this just growing and getting even bigger.

Lara Griffin 10:39

Oh, that's great. Because I know we get a lot of phone calls for just um people in the community wanting to learn more about how to use computers or getting access. And so to know that the mobile is out there meeting those needs is awesome.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

And we've added more staff this year, so we're almost doubling the amount of computer time that we'll have available. And it's not a computer class, you don't have to worry like, oh, I don't want to go, I already know how to use a mouse, you know. No, you come and you use it to whatever you need to use it for, and we'll just be there to guide you if you get stumped.

Lara Griffin 11:17

Oh, that's awesome. I love how you partner with the community this way.

SPEAKER_01 11:21

Yes, it's really important because being Midwest, we don't want to be shoveling snow just to put the card out, you know. So if we go in, we take the um materials right in with us, and you can check out right from the warmth of a building. But in your neighborhood.

Lara Griffin 11:38

Awesome. So I'm gonna transition and just so I knew you more from the mobile library, and then I heard that you have books and that you're an author, and I was like, oh, this is cool. So tell us about how you became an author.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

And okay, well, a long time ago, I've been doing this for about 22 years. I we were trying to think of ways to get people to come into the library, and I travel all over the country. I am very interested in history, it's a passion. But I'm also interested in the darker history. And so I thought, well, and actually it was my daughter Amber, who works here at the local history room, and my other daughters have all worked here at the library, and they're like, why don't you do what you do for us? Uh when we travel, I look up historical places and we try to find um a ghost hunt or a ghost place, someplace that's haunted. And if we can't um join in a ghost hunt, if they don't have one, then I was doing the ghost hunt. We would, and you know, I had four kids, so we couldn't afford like $30 a person to go on these hunts. So I would just do one. So they were like, why don't you just do what you do for us for the library? So that's how we started. We um got the city buses for free and we just started doing tours. And it is grew, it grew so much that they won't, you know, people were asking me to do it year-round, but the library was really only interested in October. So I said, okay, well, I set up a website and started doing it on my own. And as I collected these stories, people were like, Well, why don't you write these down? Now I'm like, oh, I'm no author. Um, but they said, but we would read it. So I um took a leap of faith and I had been collecting stories for about 12 years, and I talked to several people about what publisher I should go with, and I went with Arcadia Press, and they do a lot of the books that you see, um, the haunted uh ones. So they broke it into two books, and one was Haunted Rockford, Illinois, and the other one is Murder in Mayhem, which is more of the true crime. So I'm um I'm still doing tours to this day. Uh, it has been fun because I get to help out museums. We do a lot of fundraising for the museums, especially during COVID, like we talked about. Um, and I don't do bus tours, a traditional bus tours, um, very often now. I usually just do those in October. But I do walking tours of cemeteries and just telling the ghost stories and the history of of Rockford through the ghost stories.

Lara Griffin 14:21

Wow, that's that's really cool.

SPEAKER_01 14:24

I think so.

Lara Griffin 14:25

And I think there was there's even an uh a kid's book that's in in honor of your Yes.

SPEAKER_01 14:32

They asked me if they could um take my book and turn it, they had started a new Spooky America series um as well, and they said, Can we use the Haunted Rockford book? And I said, sure, and I I get royalties from it, so yes. But and um it it's fun. It it's a they took out some of the history and added a little more spooky, but it's it's cute. It's very cute.

Lara Griffin 14:55

Cool. And then um your new book is Haunted Rock River Valley. So what inspired you to write it?

SPEAKER_01 15:03

The publishers actually asked me to do a book on Beloit, and as I was gathering stories for Beloit, it was scary because I had worked with the stories that I had used for the other two books for, like I said, 12 years, and I knew those stories, and I knew people would enjoy them. But this was really cool because um, as I was gathering stories for Beloit, people were like, Have you heard about this one in this town and this town? And so before I knew it, I was all the way up to Wapan and all the way down to Rock Island. Yeah, and it was cool because I started with the historical societies, and I'm like, Do you have any ghost stories? And um my husband and I like to go on day trips, so I would take him with me, and people like my husband a lot. So I send him in and he would be talking to the folks for the historical society, and he'd soften them up, and then he would say, Do you have any ghost stories? And I knew that was my kind of cue for moving in and getting those stories.

Lara Griffin 16:01

I love that. And I I love that you have this historian perspective in your book, um, and that you start out with the context of it, and because I I've been re- I read the foreword and I've gotten into the first story, and just how you go from um, yeah, just going from the past to some of the more contemporary, going back and forth, and you're helping um like the reader like get an understanding of the time and what's going on during that era. So I really appreciate that about your book.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Thank you for saying that. Um like I said, my husband's my first editor, and I am a history person, and hell, like, do we really care? Like, should we care about this? They don't need to know that they were wearing purple socks on that day. I'm like, but it's important. So, what story from the book surprised you the most? Oh, they all have surprised me in one way or another, but I think um the one that, you know, I'm always looking for those weird stories. So when I find them, it's like, oh, this is cool because of this. There were there's something about each of the stories that kind of surprised me. But I think the one that surprised me the most was the Rockton Witch baby.

Lara Griffin 17:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Um, mainly because of the longevity of that particular legend.

Lara Griffin 17:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

And nowadays there's so many things at our um, when I started doing these stories, I would come here to the library and go in the local history room and look up the address and find out who owned it all, you know, who owned it through the years. And then they'd I'd use our database that is newspapers and I put those names in, and it took forever. But a lot of places now have find a grave.

Lara Griffin 17:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:57

Um, and you go on, find a grave, you put the cemetery in there, you put the person's name, and it brings it up. And so sometimes the history is already done for you. That's what the case was with this rocked in witch baby. Because I'm like, what is this about? Right. And I had somebody ask me, Have you heard this story? And I'm like, No, you should tell me. So they gave the version of um this witch baby, and I'm like, okay. And I go there and it's this little grave, and they thought that it was something to do with the witch because it has a little fence around it. And it's really the only one in the Rockdon cemetery that's like that. So, but as I pulled up Find a Grave, it's like the history was all there. The mom's name, the dad's name, and she was married. She wasn't a single woman, like this the legend says. She's a single woman who had a baby out of wedlock, and in order to cement her deal with the devil, she kills this 10-month-old baby. Oh. That's not what happened to her. And I'm like if they had spent five minutes looking. But people going there and they leave little trinkets for the baby. Some of them are age appropriate, some of them are little stuffed animals or little cars or little toys. It was a little boy, his name was Charles Wright. But some of them are inappropriate.

Lara Griffin 19:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

Like their skulls, like and like Halloween decorations. And sometimes there was even a ham sandwich in there. I'm not sure what that was about. But so that one surprised me because what happened is so many people were going there and pretty much desecrating this grave. Now you do have a honey because the mother is there. I I work with two very talented psychics when I do these stories. And they're like, when we first got there, there was a screaming woman. So they're like, maybe this is true. Maybe this woman is a witch. You know, we don't, we all well, it turned out that this woman is the mother of this child, and she is so mad that people are desecrating this baby's grave that she can't rest in peace. The mom and dad are both there. She's just a little more vocal.

SPEAKER_02 20:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

But um, she's the reason. I one of the stories said that they picked the flower. There was a peony bush in the little grave area, and they picked the flower, and by the time they walked back to their car, it was full of like maggots and bugs and stuff. And I'm like, okay, that's weird. Yeah. But it surprised me because I don't think that I thought about what that could what could happen. And if you're desecrating somebody's grave, that that mother could come, you know, to protect her child. Right. Never thought of that happening. In a way, people like me, except I don't desecrate graves, we have created this. And I had no idea that could even happen.

SPEAKER_02 20:51

Right.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

Um, so I and my other teammates from Haunted Rockford, we go and we clean out this baby's grave a couple times a year. And you talk to the the mom and just let her know that I'm I am trying to tell the right, the real story. And that is one of the reasons why it was so important to me to add that story into the book. I also have put their actual history on the grave. Um, Samantha Hockman, who is one of my partners, she is the executive director of Tinker. She uh printed it out, laminated it, we hung it on the grave, so now the story is right there. Oh wow, that's cool. And so hopefully we can give this family some peace.

Lara Griffin 21:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:30

I mean, they lost their child, that was bad enough.

Lara Griffin 21:33

Yeah. How long ago was 1850s?

unknown 21:36

Wow.

Lara Griffin 21:37

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 21:38

1857, I believe, yeah.

Lara Griffin 21:40

So our library is actually right along the Rock River. So do you have a story for this area?

SPEAKER_01 21:49

I do. Um, actually, it really surprised me. I uh f go through newspapers and I've been following this story. Back when it was a gas manufacturing. Plant before they even thought about putting a library here. There was uh problems with ghosts, and they actually were having things fly around. And at first they thought it was kind of playful, but then it got a little more serious, and they hired a security guard to protect the guys because the stuff would go flying around the room, so he'd say, you know, like duck or whatever, and he quit after a couple of days, and that in this the paper, it talked about how he was afraid he would get hurt, so he quit. So they tear down the pl the gas manufacturing plant, and this stuff was still all going on. But now we have a library going in.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

Right.

SPEAKER_01 22:41

And so I heard stories from other folks about things happening in the library. Um, I just kind of took it with a grain of salt because, you know, it's an old building, so they probably just, you know, think things are happening. And so one day I came in, and um back then I was doing the Saturday spectaculars in the old auditorium that was in the basement. And I came in before everybody else because we were going to have a performer. And his so who I don't know who planned this thing, but the box to turn the lights on was way over in the corner. So you'd feel along the wall, total darkness, feel along the wall, and just as my fingers touch the little metal cabinet where the lights are on, the piano starts to play. I was upstairs before I even realized I was moving. And people were starting to come in then, and they're like, You look like you just seen a ghost. And I said, Well, I think I heard one. And they're like, What happened? And and I told them, and they said, Wait, aren't you supposed to be some ghost investigator? And I'm like, Oh man. But it it startled me, and they were like, Well, maybe a mouse ran across the keyboard. So we went down, but nope, the keyboard was shut, so there was no mouse running across anything. I to this day don't know what happened, but um, I didn't mind being in the building. But some of the other people were like, they didn't like being in the building without somebody else there. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I don't know about the new building. Yeah. So that one I'll have to wait and see.

Lara Griffin 24:11

We'll let you know. Um so what can these stories teach us about local history?

SPEAKER_01 24:20

Um, I I think it really shows um shows the you know, we if you capture the story just right, you can see that time period. And for me, um some areas I travel all over, and some areas the veil between the living and the dead is very thin. And so it's almost like it bleeds over sometimes. And anybody who's been like to a um battlefield, you know, you go to Gettysburg and you step onto that field and you feel something, even though there's nothing there now. Right. Um, you know what happened there. So uh I think that all places have that um capability of doing that. You just have to capture that moment, and so that's why in my stories I try to capture the time period. Um, and that sometimes those moments in time just get caught. And it's um, but it teaches us something about the way that we used to live and the hardships, the hardships that some of these people had to go through, especially some of the true darker crime. Um, you think about that person is on their worst day of that we could ever imagine. How do they get the strength to go on? How do they get the strength to get out of bed in the morning? And that is another aspect uh that I look for, and and using them as an example to inspire us to no matter what happens, you just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Yeah. And that's what these stories show me, and that's what I hope to share with you, you know, with the people who read my stories.

Lara Griffin 26:00

Yeah. Day-by-day resilience. Yes. So um, after years of serving the community and documenting local history, um, what do you hope people remember most about what makes Rockford unique?

SPEAKER_01 26:13

Rockford is very unique. Um, we have a rich tapestry of history here, going all the way back to the Native Americans. And but what really stands out to me and in looking at the darker side of our history, what really comes through and those people that had these horrible things happen to them. What a lot of them mentioned that if this kind of thing had to happen to them, they are so glad it happened here in Rockford because we have a community compassion where you're not alone going through this. I, you know, there's stories about people whose children went missing or their their husband or wife went missing, and there's thousands of people that show up to look for them. And they don't just, you know, uh, they don't just watch from the sidelines, they become involved and they we really care. And I think that's what has uh made Rockford last so long, but it makes the library last. We care here, you know. If you I mean, look at we're sitting in a room that people can use to make podcasts. I mean, that's pretty incredible when you think about it. But I think that Rockford, our compassion for each other and this community, um, you know, it goes from top the top of the line down. And I think uh, you know, we're not just willing to say, you know, hand over five bucks to somebody ringing a bell. We're we'll get involved. We'll we'll get involved to make sure that each and every family has an opportunity to grow.

Lara Griffin 27:51

Yeah, I love how you describe that characteristic of Rockford. Yeah, that's awesome. So tell us, where can we find your book and what events do you have going on this? Spooky season?

SPEAKER_01 28:04

Yeah, it's uh it's a lot because of the new book. I have been traveling up and down the river, and so a lot of the libraries are having me come and tell my stories, and and they're free. So you can I'm doing one for Montague Branch here, and um so they can check out the website here at Rockford Public Library to see that. But um, I have events every Saturday night through Haunted Rockford. I've got a lot of Fridays. We're doing um, like my one of my favorites is the Rockford's Most Haunted. We have three different events that night or three different locations. It's October 24th, and you go um to Tinker Veterans Memorial Hall, which is right across the street, and you go to the Ethnic Heritage, which is actually two buildings because it's it's a Graham Genester house as well. Right. And you pay the one price, but I have um people helping me. They we have three investigation teams, and they have all their fun equipment, and you'll get to play with that and and see what happens. And what I love about it is it gives you a chance to see three different kinds of locations.

Lara Griffin 29:15

I love that you have just the kindest demeanor, and I'm like, does this does doing this ever like do you get the chills and yes, yes, and and you know, some of these stories are really hard to write.

SPEAKER_01 29:31

Um but I think it is really important. I guess it it kind of stems back from my dad used to say that nobody is really dead as long as they're remembered. And I really have taken that to heart, and I think that each of the people, and and these stories stay with me. Um, you know, I don't just write them and forget them. I I these people become part of my makeup too.

Lara Griffin 29:56

Yeah, that's so great. So thank you so much, Kathy. So thank you for joining us and for sharing your experiences, your passion for serving our community and the stories that make the Rockford such a fascinating place. And thank you to our listeners for joining us on the Rockford Public Library Podcast. To learn more about library programs, services, and events, check out our website. And until next time, keep exploring, keep learning, and keep discovering the stories that make Rockford unique.