This is beter.” Most volunteers work a morning or

This is beter.”

Most volunteers work a morning or an afternoon a week. On Mondays Frances Thornton works both. Her great familiarity with the county means anyone visiting on Mondays can encounter an expert on Rappahannock County. She has also been a volunteer with the Rappahannock Historical Society working on the project of locating all the private graveyards in the county, so she knows where the skeletons are buried.

Mrs. Thornton said she was volunteering one day a week at the elementary school and one day at the. historical society and looking for somethingelse to do.

Dee Brents, who was then the librarian, asked if she could type, and when she said she could some, but not well, she got the job of typing up catalog cards.

Then she was put to work checking the shelves, and although she found that boring, it helped her learn how the library is organized. She said, “I thought I would have to retire when the computers came in,” but she has had no trouble learning how to handle the one at the desk.

“I enjoy seeing the people &nd having something to do,” she said. On the morning of Jan. 15, her main job in the was assuring people on the telephone that the library was indeed open in spite of the snow and a national holiday.

Another expert on county history, Elizabeth Johnson, volunteers on Wednesday mornings. With her late husband C.E. “Ned” Johnson she wrote a history of the county, Rappahannock County Virginia: A History: Fact, Fiction, Foolishness and the Fairfax Story.

Three of the volunteers are formed librarians. Grace’ Sims and Cathy Knuepfer alternate on Saturdays.

Susan Covington, the other former librarian, helps clients connect to the Internet on Thursdays.

Mary Stuart Bain and Celine Siira get new books ready to go on the shelves covering them and putting on stickers. Edith Pond repairs books.

“They definitely keep this place running,” Mr. Shaffer said. “They are interesting people, and I enjoy talking with them.”