Names in the News: Bill Rubin

Name: Bill Rubin

Occupation: Manager of Mayfield Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library. In addition to 30 years working for libraries, he owned Appletree Books in Cleveland Heights for 15 years.

Hometown: Shaker Heights. He grew up in University Heights.

Why he chose his career: "I am and always was a voracious reader. Libraries and reading were always very important in my family. We went to the library every week. The library was part of my childhood and part of my culture."

Other libraries he's worked at: Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, Medina, Parma (Snow Branch), North Royalton and Strongsville.

What he likes about Mayfield Library: "It is probably the most diverse community I've worked in. The community has had a lot of new Americans and a tradition of absorbing new Americans. It's an incredibly supportive library community. They vote for levies and there's active Friends group of 350 members."

His proudest accomplishment: "I'm very proud of the number of colleagues I have that count on me and I can count on for professional support. It has made a difference in the level of service and the ideas that have come forward."

Changes in library services: "When I was a young librarian we use to dream of computers and what they can do. I think we've done an excellent job keeping forward on what we can do in the future while honoring the best of what we've done in the past. Reading is still a major part of what we do."

Civic involvement: He serves on the board of Mayfield Alliance. "It's a very important group because it's a unique group of businesses, schools and community leaders coming together. There are some fascinating people involved. The Alliance is doing great things to support the school programs. It speaks to how people feel about this community."

What he does in his spare time: "We do a lot of family time. We have two teenagers at home, a son who is a Boy Scout and a daughter who is an Adventure Scout. I still am a voracious reader. We also like to go to the movies from time to time."

Why he still enjoys his job after 45 years in the business: "I'm interested in the people. We really get to know the people in the community. We really get involved in people's lives." That includes things like finding out who's pregnant or has health problems. "We get to know more things about people. Some happy, some sad. It's all fascinating."