Officially, Joe was my Assistant Director at Montville Township Public Library. But unofficially, he was like a big brother to me. He looked out for me, and we always had fun working together. He was hands down one of the funniest people I have ever met. He was a history buff and had a passion for comics. He dedicated most of his time (work time and free time) to working with kids, and was a wonderful uncle. He'd want me to say that he was a devout Christian too. He didn't like Nickelback (or, "The Back," as the kids say). The last thing we did together was play Super Nintendo, to test the set-up for my upcoming Retro Games program. He absolutely stomped me in Street Fighter.
After he passed, I found an article on the good done by libraries during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, in which Joe was interviewed. He was wise as always. I felt very emotional, though hardly surprised, to hear him say that he had the same opinion on the subject as I did. In fact, it was that exact thing he talked about, the help to the community that libraries provided during that mess, that got me to finally decide to become a librarian.
"During times of crisis, libraries had a unique opportunity to show their community what they can really do. During the aftermath of Sandy, while most town officials were scrambling to figure out what was going on, the library was the most stable and most informed town entity because we made it our business to be exactly that...All in all we found that the biggest service we were able to provide for our patron's was simple kindness...That was all that mattered, we were there and we cared." -Joe Gasparro
By Jeff Cupo
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In honor of the Sesquicentennial next year (150th Anniversary of ALA) in 2026, thehttps://www.ala.org/lhrt. Click or tap if you trust this link." data-auth="NotApplicable" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ala.org%2Flhrt&data=05%7C02%7Cdbs21%40psu.edu%7C50db117139b24c0f0be108ddda04dd76%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C638906436657979194%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=0rvB77KKjQEq1ErbwJzxS2q8fBKAnmtoi0sjMjkD1bE%3D&reserved=0" data-linkindex="31"> Library History Round Table is hosting Librarians We Have Lost, Sesquicentennial Memories -1976-2026. This collage of tributes seeks to honor librarians who died between 1976-2026. The tributes are published to ALA Connect and a https://lhrt.news/librarians-we-have-lost-sesquicentennial-memories-1976-2026/. Click or tap if you trust this link." data-auth="NotApplicable" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flhrt.news%2Flibrarians-we-have-lost-sesquicentennial-memories-1976-2026%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cdbs21%40psu.edu%7C50db117139b24c0f0be108ddda04dd76%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C638906436657988950%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=YdZs5Dyf5Llgt4TjbU7KAwt1od62VVzuTsFzd3%2Fci6Y%3D&reserved=0" data-linkindex="32">digital memorial on LHRT News & Notes.
We invite tributes from anyone about any library worker who passed away between 1976-2026. To submit a tribute, please use the form at https://lhrt.news/librarians-we-have-lost-sesquicentennial-memories-1976-2026-2/. Click or tap if you trust this link." data-auth="NotApplicable" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flhrt.news%2Flibrarians-we-have-lost-sesquicentennial-memories-1976-2026-2%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cdbs21%40psu.edu%7C50db117139b24c0f0be108ddda04dd76%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C638906436657998776%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=8uvxX%2FclAJktoe47tBWZ%2FUEER6D1hvor8ddAGfcT5J4%3D&reserved=0" data-linkindex="33">lhrt.news/...
For questions or comments, please reach out to Dr. Kathleen McCook (kmccook@usf.edu) or Brett Spencer (dbs21@psu.edu).
------------------------------Brett SpencerReference LibrarianThun Library, Penn State BerksHe/Him/His ------------------------------
Brett Spencer
Reference Librarian
Thun Library, Penn State Berks
He/Him/His
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