Fredericksburg remembers longtime library director

By Brent Burgess Standard-Radio Post reporter

For 23 years, patrons of Pioneer Memorial Library were familiar with the face of Brian MacWithey. Prior to his recent untimely death, MacWithey had served as library director.

MacWithey and his brother, Kevin, were born in Montana to an academic family, their father a professor at Montana State University. A research position for their father brought the family to Irving, and they relocated to Richardson, where Brian and Kevin grew up.

Kevin has been a longtime resident of Fredericksburg and was the first to move here. Kevin has served on the Fredericksburg City Council and ran his own landscape company in Fredericksburg.

“I got a call from Brian one day saying, ‘Hey, there’s a listing for the librarian in Fredericksburg,’” Kevin remembered.

“I guess he applied, and I actually went down to Commissioner’s Court one day, because he said they were going to be talking about it. I listened to everything, and it all sounded real positive.”

Brian MacWithey accepted the director position in 1999.

Brian’s wife, Mary, was also a librarian and worked at Schreiner University in Kerrville. She and Brian met while attending librarian school at the University of North Texas in 1988.

“He was behind me in one of my classes,” said Mary, “and he was chewing ice. That irritates me, so I turned around and said, ‘quit that.’ “He got my attention, and he kept my attention for a very long time.”

MacWithey came to Fredericksburg with a strong resume for library work beyond his education.

“He walked in with a lot of great experience,” said Mary. “He had been two places in the Richardson/ Dallas area already. Then he moved to the Chicago area and he worked there in a small library, also. Then, we came back to Houston and he worked in two different branches and became a branch manager in the Houston library.”

Mary pointed out that Brian had some challenges early in the position due to the unique management of the library in Fredericksburg.

Pioneer Memorial Library falls under county oversight and its funding and personnel are managed by the Gillespie County Commissioners Court.

“It is very different as far as being a county judge and Commissioners Court kind of oversight,” said Mary. “That was not the way it was done in Houston.”

Despite the challenges of his government-funded position, Brian was able to keep a strong working relationship with his staff.

“He had staff that had been there since high school and they’re getting ready to retire,” said Mary.

Both Mary and Kevin recalled how Brian had the opportunity to see children become adults, and then become residents of the town, starting their own families.

“He saw a generation grow up in that library,” said Kevin about Brian’s career.

One of Brian’s favorite experiences in his role was working with kids. Brian believed a library should not be scary to kids and should be allowed an appropriate level of disruption by children.

“He loved the kids,” said Mary. “He was a big kid. He loved all those little stuffed animals. He loved all those little ornaments you see in the library. He put them out for the children.”

MacWithey had a specific interest in World War II history.

“We have a very large collection of stuff that he kept for himself,” said Mary. “I think I’ve watched 10 million movies about World War II.”

Fascinated by the 1920s Art Deco movement, Brian and Mary purchased a bungalow in Fredericksburg and renovated it.

“It was very enjoyable because it brought the art together with the building construction, and we had a great time,” Mary said.

One of the bigger events that MacWithey facilitated was the annual book sale. The book sale is organized by the Friends of Pioneer Memorial Library, a group of volunteers who support and promote the library.

“It was a big deal. It was a big moneymaker,” said

Kevin. “People would donate books they didn’t need anymore.”

Kevin remembered getting phone calls from Brian the night before the book sale needing help with the setup. Truckloads of books would be brought to Marktplatz and guarded overnight until the next day’s event. The event required a significant number of volunteers.

Mary mentioned Brian’s dream of having a larger and more functional library space for the people in Fredericksburg.

“There are some things that could be really enjoyed by the people and the children here,” said Mary. “If they would just realize what it would take to get that here.” property taxes for public school purposes from $25,000 to $40,000.

Brian MacWithey died on March 27 at the age of 61.

FISD election

The Fredericksburg Independent School District is holding an election to fill a one-year unexpired term and a three-year term.

Running for the oneyear term is incumbent Natalie Bowman and Jake Whittington. For the three-year term, Matt Seidenberger, J.D. Windham, Adam Riley and incumbent Mark Cornett have filed.

The district also has its bond election for a new middle school campus.

Anissa Herrera, Gillespie County Elections Administrator, said 17,813 of the registered voters can cast ballots in this election.

“The easiest way to tell if you can vote in the FISD election is if you pay FISD taxes,” Herrera said.

All voters in Precincts 1, 3, 6, 7, 8 and 12 can vote in this election, as they are FISD taxpayers.

There are also some voters who can vote from Precincts 2, 4, 5, 9, 10, 13 and 15. A total of seven voters in Kendall and 79 in Blanco can also vote in FISD elections.

As these elections are both being handled by the county, early voting is taking place at the Gillespie County Annex 3 Building, 95 Frederick Road, through May 3. Times are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; 1-3 p.m. on Sunday and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday (Election Day).

Herrera encouraged voters to cast their ballots during early voting, instead of on the May 7 Election Day, as it coincides with the town’s 175th Anniversary closing weekend.

“Please come vote early and don’t fight the traffic on that day,” she said. “There’s going to be a parade and other festivities and you don’t want to wait.”

As of Monday evening, 267 people cast ballots. A total of 333 people voted by mail for the constitutional amendment election.

Doss CCSD

The Doss Consolidated Common School District election was canceled. Kandice Wadsworth and John Studer were certified as unopposed.

City of Fredericksburg

The City of Fredericksburg has its mayoral seat, and two city councilmember seats open in this year’s election.

For mayor, Jeryl Hoover, Timothy Ellis Riley and incumbent Charlie Kiehne have all filed.

For the two councilmember seats, Emily Kirchner, incumbent Tom Musselman, James McDonald and Tony Klein have applied. Incumbent Jerry Luckenbach is not running.

To vote in the city election, City Secretary Shelley Goodwin said residents must be registered to vote in Precincts 1-4, or in a portion of Precinct 10. A total of 8,081 voters are registered to cast ballots in the city election.

Early voting for the city election is taking place at the Girl Scout Cabin, 202. W. Austin St. Hours are 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8:30-11:30 a.m. on Saturday.

As of Monday evening, 193 voters cast their ballots in person. A total of 125 ballots by mail have been returned.

To see if a vote counted, go to https://www.fbgtx. org/1048/Roster-of-votersduring-Early-Voting Ballot by mail Goodwin said much of the confusion this year is centered around ballot by mail voting.

“I think some people are scared of ballot by mail voting,” she said. “Mail-in ballots are secure.”

Yesterday was the final day to apply for a ballot by mail (received, not postmarked) for city and county elections.

The final day to return a ballot by mail is Election Day, May 7, by 7 p.m. if the carrier envelope is not postmarked. If they are postmarked by 7 p.m. and the voter is not overseas or a military voter, ballots can also be returned Monday, May 9, by 5 p.m. at the location of the election on Election Day.

More information about changes to mail-in ballots can be found in a separate story in this week’s paper. Primary runoff election

A primary runoff election for the Gillespie County and Statewide General Election will take place May 24.

The Democratic ticket is all statewide races, but Herrera said there are two local races in Precincts 12 and 13 for the Republican ticket.

Koreen Hughes and Cathy Ledder are running for Precinct 12 Republican Chairman. Debbie Campbell and David C. Treibs are running for the Precinct 13 Republican Chairman.

Early voting will be May 16-22 at the Gillespie County Annex 3 Building, 95 Frederick Road. Hours