Photo courtesy of Homewood Public Library.
Deborah Fout holds a reproduction of the cover of the Homewood Public Library’s first “Member Brochure” from March 24, 1941.
Deborah Fout grew up in Homewood in the 1950s. As a child, she used the library, then at its second home, on the corner of Roxbury Road and Oxmoor Road.
“I have many memories of walking to the library, checking out as many books as I could and walking home with them,” Fout said. “In 1985, I was a single mother and took a part-time job at the library on the weekends to supplement my salary as a bank teller. After several months of working every weekend, I felt very fortunate to land a full-time job at one of my favorite places.”
Fout left her job at the bank to begin a journey at the Homewood Public Library that would last 37 years. She started as a clerk and retired as the library director in 2022.
“In 1985, the Homewood Public Library was a much different library than it is today. The building was small, with only 27 parking places for staff and patrons,” Fout said. "We only had 10 staff members, and if you worked the late shift or left during your shift, you would have to park on the street when you returned.”
She watched the library transform over the years, relocating to a new building and utilizing new technology as it adapted from a card catalog system and by-hand checkouts into the modern, award-winning library of today.
“The Homewood Library has a bright new director at the helm,” Fout said. “Judith Wright will lead the library to great things in the future. I am very excited to see how the Homewood Public Library will evolve as it continues to meet the needs of the citizens of Homewood.”
