Kearns-St. Ann School library renovated

IC photo/Laura Vallejo

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Dr. Cheryl Walczak, Susan Nakaba and Bishop Oscar A. Solis are shown at the grand reopening of the Kearns-St. Ann School library.

SALT LAKE CITY — The grand reopening of the Kearns-St. Ann School library was celebrated on May 31 with a blessing by Bishop Oscar A. Solis and a reception.

Kearns-St. Ann Catholic School opened in the fall of 1955; the chapel doubled as the school library even into the 1960s. However, even once the space was dedicated solely as a library, it was never renovated.

“The library had been neglected for a long time, since we didn’t have the finances to do anything about it,” said Susan Nakaba, who managed the library renovation project and previously was the school’s principal.

Among the issues with the library were that the books were outdated, there was no scanning system, and the shelves were too small to separate the books by themes or in alphabetical order.

All that changed with a donation from Dr. Cheryl Walczak that made the renovation of the library possible.

Elizabeth (Betty) and Joseph Walczak, Jr. were originally from Chicago, where they married and had their only daughter, Cheryl. The Walczaks were a hardworking couple; Joseph was in the Navy and Betty was a nurse. In the early 1960s the couple took a road trip from coast to coast, passing through Utah.

“We drove through several states,” said Dr. Walczak, recalling the trip during the May 31 celebration.

From that vacation, one memory that stuck in her head was the Utah State Capitol. “It was the only place in the city that was cool,” she said.

As the years passed, her parents moved, “and when they were in Utah in the early ’90s, guess what they discovered?” she said. “Kearns-St. Ann School.”

In retirement, Betty Walczak thought that she needed to find something to do with her life, Dr. Walczak said, “so she called the school and told them she had a lot of time on her hands and she thought that they had a library and asked to help out.”

In addition to volunteering in the library, “at the time my parents used to have a collection of the National Geographic magazines, and they donated that to the school,” Dr. Walczak said.

Eventually, her parents moved back to Chicago, where they passed away.

Some years ago, Dr. Walczak revisited the school and was shocked to discover that nothing had changed in the library since her mother volunteered there, she said.

After talking with Nakaba, who was then the school principal, she decided to put her parents’ estate to work.

“This renovation comes from the heart,” not just from her but from her parents, Dr. Walczak said. “With the help from those from the past you can excel into the future.”

That sentiment is reflected in a commemorative plaque on the wall, which reads in part, “Enjoy using this library to find  the knowledge that will help you contribute to the world of the future ;carry on.”

The renovations included replacing about 70 percent of the books with current volumes, rearranging the bookshelves and new paint for the walls. One thing that remained the same was the chair that Betty Walczak used to read the books to the children.

The school’s faculty and staff helped with the renovation by creating labels for the books so that the library materials can be scanned.