Neighbor to Neighbor: Aimee Campbell

A peek into life in a small town

I have been writing short profiles for my local paper The Monroe County News, a series I am calling “Neighbor to Neighbor.” It’s a paper that has been plagued with opinion pieces of the “beware, the end of days is upon us” variety, with questionable “news” about presidential elections and the like. There was a bit of a shake-up in the makeup of the editorial and publishing staff, and somehow I was asked if I might like to contribute to the paper with some articles. I said yes.

It might seem to some a step backward to write for a small-town paper after publishing a book and airing on radio national radio shows like The World and Living on Earth. But to me, it feels refreshing to talk to those in my immediate locale about the motivations in their lives, about why one gets up each day to bake the cookies or digitize the books. It makes me feel a part of a community in which I am an outsider, and allows me to spend an hour deeply listening, something people chatty like me rarely do.

I will be sharing these articles with you as I publish them, believing that what motivates one can inspire another, and that we all need a little slice of light, positive news in our day.

Enjoy.

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Neighbor to Neighbor: Aimee Campbell

It doesn't do much good to sit around complaining about the state of the world, says Albia Library Director Amiee Campbell. Instead, Campbell learned at an early age to put her energy into making things better, to work to create the kind of world she wants to live in.

Campbell grew up in Osceola, Iowa, with a short stint living in Virginia in her early teens. She thinks of herself as a "Southern Iowa farm girl," raised with a solid work ethic. Her family had the opportunity to invest in land and buildings, but, Campbell comments, "people think investment properties mean you are making some big money. But that's not the way we were taught."

Campbell's father used his investments to model to his children that ownership means responsibility and hard work. The family bonded together over their time cleaning and updating properties together.

"Dad was a person with an interest in regular people," explains Campbell. "He made things available for tenants below market rate, for example. He helped take care of people and provide for those who needed it."

The insight and determination she gained in her childhood gave Campbell the knowledge to pursue her dream to remodel a historic home. When she and her husband moved their family to Albia in 2017, they took on the updating of the "Doc Gutch" or Hess House, scraping off generations of paint and neglect. Today the beautiful home is a testament to Campbell and her family's impressive tenacity.

But Campbell's family also had another tradition: reading stories together out loud. "Even now, we still read together over the telephone," she reports. That love of words and books led Campbell to apply to be the Director of the Albia library, a position she started in 2021. 

"The thing that drove me to apply was seeing the need in the community," says Campbell of her motivation to work at the library, even though she had worked for years in Des Moines as a lawyer. "I love libraries and books, and the idea of having a library as a community hub.

A postcard of the Albia Carnegie-Evans Public Library from https://www.carnegielibrariesiowa.org/library/466/

Campbell is committed to transforming the library into a resource for the whole community, a vision that was created through listening sessions, volunteer input, and the work of dedicated board members. With Campbell at its helm, the library has kicked off a wide variety of programs, from classes on digital literacy to summer reading activities (where kids also receive free lunch), STEM workshops (science, technology, engineering and math) to storytime. The library has started to overhaul its systems too, digitizing the card catalog, updating computers, and revamping the community room.

"I am really proud of all the people in the community that want to help the library," says Campbell. "It is one of the things I love about Albia—the people are supportive. Patrons give money or books, and then others see that in the community…and it starts to catch."

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