Member-only story
Takoma Park’s Longtime Librarian Weighs In
Karen MacPherson recently retired after 15 years as the children’s and teen services coordinator at the Takoma Park Maryland Library; prior to that she worked nearly three decades as a newspaper reporter, mostly in Washington, D.C. MacPherson lives in Takoma Park with her husband Peter Hardin and a merry beagle named Benny.
This interview has been edited.
How do you feel about retiring? What’s next for you?
I’m still figuring out how I feel about retirement. In days past, retirement meant that you could just put up your feet and relax. These days, it’s very different, and the question I’ve been getting from everyone is, “What are you going to do in retirement?”
As I think about it, I hope to strike a balance between being and doing in retirement, taking time to just savor nature’s beauty, for example, while also doing some volunteer work, taking some classes (in French, art history), traveling, reading and spending time with friends and family.
I’ll also likely do some writing on children’s and teen books for The Washington Post and Publishers Weekly. When I’ve asked retired friends for their advice, they’ve recommended that I take some time — six months to a year — to first get in the rhythm of retirement. As one friend put it: “You’ve just jumped off a speeding train…
