Does a Ghost Knock Books off Library Shelves at Night?
Surrey Online UK
Wed February 9, 2005
Area: Surrey
A FAMILIAR face from behind the counter at Dorking library has retired after 21 years in the job.
June Spong has stacked her final book on the shelves of Pippbrook library and said farewell to all the customers and staff she got to know so well throughout her career as a library assistant.
June, who turned 65 on Monday, three days after she left the job, will miss the easy access to books which she has enjoyed for so long. "I always ended up with a pile of books which I wanted to read, but used to pick out so many that I wouldn't have time to read them," she said.
June, who lives in Fairfield Drive, began working on the mobile library in January 1983 and worked the rounds, which took her all across the district, before it became a one-man operation.
She then started at Dorking library soon after it moved to Pippbrook.
Before moving to the town in 1958, June had taken an apprenticeship making hats for women in Worthing.
Having excelled in needlecraft and domestic science this was the perfect starting point.
But she later moved to Dorking and met her husband George.
The couple, who tied the knot in 1959, had two children. Her daughter will turn 46 this year and her son is aged 44.
June was temping when she heard about the job on the mobile library, decided to try for it and was awarded the post.
"We used to go all over Mole Valley and everyone was so friendly to us," she recalled. "At Christmas time a little old lady used to bring a sherry on board. There were lots of good times.
"It was during my time on the mobile with time to waste and all those books to read that I became interested in local history and later in genealogy."
After the move to Pippbrook, she was asked to lead the heritage trail and put her knowledge of the area to good use.
But for anyone who thinks there is little more to Dorking library than a stash of books, they would be mistaken.
Over the years, June has noticed spooky goings on and, although she has never seen a ghost, she declared: "The building is haunted.
"I've noticed books have been moved, or fallen off the middle of a shelf," she said. "It's a female ghost. She seems friendly, although we're not sure who she is. She just seems mischievous.
"I've seen books in the wrong places on a morning and I know I was the last one stacking the shelves the day before."
Having acquired a wealth of anecdotes, June says she would like to put them all down in a book.
"There's so much to tell," she said.
Share your thoughts in the Forum
