Turlock resident Mike Seifert was presented with the Stanislaus Library Foundation’s Shining Star award on Saturday for his years long service to the Turlock library. While he is extremely grateful for the acknowledgement, the award is not the best gift he’s gotten for his involvement with public libraries. That honor goes to his wife Peggy.

“We met at the library,” Seifert said.

It was 1997 and Seifert was residing in La Grange, Georgia.

“I was divorced and I didn’t want to go home and I didn’t want to go to bars, so I would go to the library,” Seifert said. “They got to know me there and asked if I’d like to volunteer and that eventually turned into a paid part-time position.”

Seifert had a full-time job, so he usually worked at the library on the weekends. This happened to be a Sunday and he was working at the front desk.

In another part of town Peggy was busy moving into a new place when her 9-year-old son made the sudden pronouncement that he had to write a report about dogs and it was due the next day. Peggy made a pivot from unpacking and with her son in tow, made her way to the La Grange library.

“I was wearing a T-shirt and cut-off shorts,” Peggy said. “I looked pretty grubby.”

“I thought she looked pretty good,” Mike countered.

She asked for help finding some resource books on dogs for her son and Mike dutifully led them over to the right area, not missing the opportunity to chat up the pretty woman.

“This was not the real proper thing to do, but I thought when she checked out the books, I could see what her name was and her phone number,” Mike said.

Mike wasn’t the only one thinking about a phone number.

“I was surprised to see somebody cute behind the desk at the library and I was trying to think of how I could give him my phone number,” Peggy said. “Since I had just moved, I said I wanted to make sure my new address and phone number were on file and he wrote it all down.”

So, he had her number, but would he call? Of course, he was going to call. He just needed a reason.

“To make copies back then you had to use a card the library gave you,” Mike said. “It didn’t have names on them, so I made up an excuse to call her a couple of days later and ask if she had left her card at the copy machine. I left a message and I also asked if she would be interested in dinner.”

“I was interested,” Peggy said.

One year later, Mike and Peggy married and two weeks after that they moved to Turlock. Settling into their new home, they made frequent trips to the Turlock library, which is where Mike saw an advertisement for the Friends of the Turlock Public Library annual book sale.

“I love reading,” Mike said. “We have a house full of books and we’re both always reading two or three that we have in different rooms of the house. It’s very relaxing and comforting.”

For an avid reader like Mike, a book sale promising thousands of books for low, low prices was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

“I loved it,” Mike said. “All those books. So, I asked around about who put this one on and I was directed to Hanna.”

That would be Hanna Renning, one of the founding members of the Friends of the Turlock Public Library and chief organizer of the book sale. Renning has a sense for scoping out volunteers and she saw the potential in Mike. She had him attend the next meeting of the group and within a few months he was a full-fledged board member of the Friends of the Turlock Public Library.

Over the years Mike has served as the membership director, vice president, director at large and currently as the organization’s treasurer.

“I’m enjoying my time as treasurer the most because now that I am retired, I have the time to devote more energy to it,” Mike said. “I can research different avenues that will one day make the group more self-sufficient.”

Pat Portwood, past president of the Friends of the Turlock Public Library, nominated Mike for the Shining Star award and remarked that his stepping into the treasurer position came at a critical time for the organization.

“During the library’s renovation, the community raised over $1 million for the purpose of purchasing materials above and beyond what the county library was spending,” Portwood said. “This endeavor involved recording pledges, documenting the monies we received and then researching and setting up an investment plan. Mike made the transition from our previous wonderful treasurer, Carmen Ingols, in a seamless manner. He has established our accounts with Morgan Stanley, has created a ledger for the Library Presents program, gives monthly reports to the board and recently has gone above and beyond to research the ‘square’ for our events. Besides his fiscal duties, Mike volunteers at the Friends bookstore two times a week. He is definitely an asset to our organization and to the entire library system.”

The Shining Star Awards were established in 2004 to honor individuals, businesses or organizations and Friends of the Library for their support of the library.  Support includes volunteer efforts, advocacy, a special program or financial contribution.

“It was a real surprise when I was told that I had been named a Shining Star,” Mike said. “It’s quite an honor.”

But not quite the honor as Peggy’s phone number.