This month we’re celebrating two longtime friends and West library volunteers, Rosemary Borthwick and Carol Stringfield – the westie besties! Once a week Rosemary and Carol volunteer in the Friends Bookstore at West. Read on to learn more about them:
When did you two become friends?
Rosemary: We’ve lived next door to each other since 2014. I guess that’s 12 years now!
Carol: That’s right!
How did you end up in the West bookstore together?
Carol: Due to her!
Rosemary: Yes! I was already volunteering in the Lakeway bookstore. You and I came to see West when it opened, and once you saw it, it was so cute that you couldn’t resist it!
What’s the best thing about volunteering with one of your best friends?
Carol: We always have a lot to talk about! We can catch up on our whole week while we volunteer.
Rosemary: We talk about what’s been going on in our neighborhood and with our families.
When you’re not volunteering, what do you do for fun?
Carol: We love to go out to eat or have a drink together.
Rosemary: We have fun traveling together, including a recent whitewater rafting trip on the Mendenhall river in Alaska – we have the pictures to prove it! And I’m still trying to convince Carol to play more Rummikub with me.
Do you like the same kinds of books?
Carol: She likes everything!
Rosemary: I do! And I especially enjoy historical novels. I find myself listening to audiobooks on Libby more than I read these days. I recently listened to Remain by Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan and The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly.
Carol: I like mysteries and biographies. One of my favorite authors is Tom Clancy.
What’s your favorite thing about volunteering at the bookstore?
Carol: Meeting people! And I especially like it when children come in – their books are so different from what I used to read to my children.
Rosemary: I love meeting people as well as chatting with the library staff. I enjoy tidying up and keeping the books in order. I also like seeing what gets donated – people bring in some really good books!