MARFA — Maggie Marquez worked at the Marfa Public Library for more than two decades and loved every minute of it. But over the summer, as the coronavirus pandemic continued to rage across Texas and Marquez grew more worried about her family’s safety, she decided to call it quits.
In July, the library was getting ready to start allowing residents into the library building again — and for Marquez, that seemed like a risky prospect. At 76, her age range puts her at risk for complications from COVID-19. But more than herself, Marquez said she worried about the safety of her husband, who has diabetes and is legally blind.
When Marquez first retired from the library in 2012, then-Mayor Dan Dunlap threw her a big retirement party at Hotel Paisano. There were no such celebrations this time, as public officials have encouraged Americans to practice social distancing and many Marfans have hunkered down.
Mandy Roane, the current city manager and former library director, described Marquez as a “mainstay” and “fixture” at the Marfa Library and said she practically considered her family. She was sad the library couldn’t give Marquez a better send-off.
“I feel so terrible about it,” Roane said in an interview this week. “She deserved so much more than what we could give her.” Once the coronavirus pandemic dies down, she hopes to do something for Marquez’s retirement, even if it’s just dinner with friends.
Marquez, who grew up in Marfa, has always worked in public-facing jobs. It started at age 13, when she got her first job at what was then the Snow Cream ice cream shop in town.
She held several service industry jobs after that, including as a waitress at the Thunderbird Restaurant and a cashier at the local Winn’s Department Store. Eventually, she started cooking and serving meals at the Marfa Nutrition Center. “I’ve always worked in public,” she said. And with her library job now behind her, “I miss my public.”
Marquez first started working at the Marfa Library in 1996. Back then, she said, the city’s public library was more barebones than it is now.
“We were crammed in there with very little stuff,” she said. “Very few books and movies, and only two computers.” That started to change, she said, as the library was able to raise more money, including through grants and with donations from the Lannan Foundation.
At the Marfa Library, Marquez earned a reputation as someone tuned in not only to library issues, but to the needs of the Marfa community. Roane, the former library director, called her a source of “institutional knowledge.” Marquez knew stuff that “you only get from working there for so long,” she said.
“A book would come in, and she’d immediately know the first three or four people to call who were waiting for it,” Roane said. “It was amazing.”
Asked about these characterizations, Marquez agreed that she stayed up-to-date on the reading interests of Marfans. “I learned through the years what people liked and what kind of stories they wanted,” she said. “Some wanted romance. Some wanted Victorian. Some wanted crime.”
There was a group of library visitors, Marquez recalled, who enjoyed novels by the romance author Danielle Steel. She kept a running list of those consumers, so she could let them know when new books by the author came in.
Then there was Jim White, a resident who preferred crime and suspense. “I would call him and tell him, ‘We have this book,’” Marquez recalled.
As for Marquez, her interests fall somewhere in the middle. “I like a little bit of suspense,” she said. “I also like romantic books.”
Marquez first decided to retire from the library in 2012, after she had a couple surgeries. Marquez officially left the library in June of that year, but she missed the job and the library didn’t want to see her go.
Around late September, she said, the library called to offer her a part-time job. “All my kids said, ‘Mom, go back to work,’” Marquez recalled. “They didn’t want to see me depressed.” After getting a letter of approval from her doctor, she picked up a part-time job working mornings — staying at the library for around another eight years.
Now on her second round of retirement, Marquez said she’s staying busier this time. She credits that in part to the coronavirus crisis, which has kept her grandkids out of in-person school. To stay busy, she’s helping one of them with their at-home classwork.
“It feels good because when I worked at the library, I used to be in charge of the children’s program,” she said. “Teaching is fun.” She spends her mornings helping her grandkid with homework, typically returning home for lunch with her husband around noon.
Marquez still works with the Marfa and Presidio County Museum, where she is president of their board. She works on sewing projects, including finishing some throw pillows started by her late mother. She bakes, cooks and does chores, which sometimes means “I just go to the post office and come back,” she said with a laugh.
The Marfa Library may not have seen the last of Marquez, though. Asked whether she’d ever consider returning, she didn’t hesitate.
“If this virus hadn’t come in, I’d probably still be there,” Marquez said. “I love the library. And if they need me after everything is clear, I probably would go help.”
