When the city singled out Barbara Rigsby, a accounting technician, for an honor, it came as a complete surprise to her.
“I knew about the award, but could never imagine that anyone would nominate me,” she said. “It’s humbling. There are so many good people working here.”
Still, many of her coworkers thought that she stood out, enough so that they pointed to her as a good candidate to be the city's “Employee of the Quarter.” More then one of them nominated her, according to a memo from City Manager Blair King.
Her boss, the library's director Christian Esquevin, calls Risgby “indispensable.”
“She is responsible for ordering everything from Post-it notes and computers to books and DVDs and does so with an eye to finding the best product for the best price.”
She also handles bookkeeping and making sure the library doesn't exceed its budget. "She lets us know how we are doing financially," is how Esquevin puts it.
Rigsby is the sixth recipient of the employee honor. King established the program in 2010 as a way to “honor employees who have made an outstanding contribution through a project, program, idea, effort or service,” Janine Zuniga, a city senior management analyst, said.
Rigsby began working at the library in 1999. “It was my dream job,” she said. At the time she was working in the Engineering Department and was scouting about for a part-time job that would allow her to spend more time carrying for her children and helping her husband out in his business.
She saw the job posting and her heart skipped. She couldn’t believe her luck. When she brought her children to the library she was always impressed with the staff. “Everyone was always so helpful,” she said.
She has not been disappointed. “It’s like Christmas everyday here,” she said.
“I like to keep busy and there’s always plenty to do.”
Carol Lesser, a library page, calls Rigsby a “workaholic” who makes everyone’s job easier. “Whenever we need something, she gets it for us.”
Much of her day is spent filling the needs of one coworker or another, Esquevin said.
“People telling her I need this, I need that, yet no one has every heard her utter a cross word or show a cloudy face.”
Since she won the honor, Rigsby is eligible to be Employee of the Year. This too is a new program initiated by King. The first honoree was .
Fernandez is out and about tending to the city’s parks. “Lot’s of people know him by name,” Zuniga said.
On the other hand, few library patrons have met Rigsby – she spends her days in a tiny cubicle at the back of the building. But they may not realize she has made an impact upon them.
As Esquevin points out, “Every book, magazine and DVD the public borrows from the library has passed through her hands.”
