Walter Palicki is one of Toledo-Lucas County Public Library’s longest serving employees. But his recent retirement after 57 years will neither keep him out of the library nor banish the twinkle of delight in his eyes when he thinks about his library career.

Mr. Palicki, 74, of Toledo, who worked with the library since the age of 15, retired Thursday.

He remains the longest-serving substitute employee with the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library system to date, but even after retiring Mr. Palicki won’t be far from the library — his sub work continues once a week at the Bedford Public Library “to keep the brain functioning.”

“I’m the living dinosaur,” Mr. Palicki joked. “I don’t know what the future holds. [I’ll work in libraries] as long as I find it challenging and useful, and I feel I’m still useful.”

Toledo-Lucas County Public Library board members honored Mr. Palicki at this week’s meeting.

In his retirement speech, Mr. Palicki said he has worked at all the library system’s 18 branches — plus the main library and the bookmobile outreach service department.

Mr. Palicki is one of the longest-serving employees in the library’s memory, said Rhonda Sewell, Toledo-Lucas County Public Library spokesman.

“It’s a tremendous accomplishment,” she said.

Mr. Palicki began work as a page at the Mott Branch on Dorr Street and Detroit Avenue in 1951, and although he moved from branch to branch when needed, he stayed with Mott for more than 20 years.

From 1955 until 1967 he was a clerk, and then a librarian aide until 1971, when he became a librarian at West Toledo branch, 1320 Sylvania Ave.

He saw the library play an important role in the life of patrons. During the 1967 civil rights riots on Dorr Street and Detroit Avenue, Mr. Palicki said the library remained a symbol of stability in the neighborhood, as nothing was damaged there.

During this time, Mr. Palicki also worked at Bedford Public Schools’ junior high in Michigan, where he started in 1961 as an English and social studies teacher. He retired from Bedford in 2000.

At the time, the school had no library, and in 1963 the principal, knowing Mr. Palicki had librarian experience, asked him if he would like to start one.

His work for several years as the school’s only librarian included everything from selecting which books to buy to typing up catalog cards.

But the new responsibilities meant he needed to choose between his love of library work and teaching.

“I had to make a choice,” Mr. Palicki said. “Did I want that one-on-one with a student, or did I want to serve the whole student population? I made the choice to serve the whole school, but still, I enjoyed teaching.”

He added that some of his work with the libraries has been similar to his teaching experiences: For example, when teaching students how to do research or when recommending books for them.

Throughout his career, Mr. Palicki encouraged patrons to read outside their comfort zone and was often unaware of the impact his suggestions had until years later.

One student thanked him years after Mr. Palicki told him to “read something different” and recommended The Scarlet Pimpernel, a historical novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy set during the Reign of Terror following the French revolution.

A face for Toledo libraries, Mr. Palicki has also been recognized thousands of miles from home. When he was visiting Los Angeles and stopped at a street corner, a man got out of his convertible to yell, “Mott Library, Dorr Street, Toledo, Ohio!”

In 1976, the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library program was experiencing budget cuts, and Mr. Palicki left, but continued his work in Bedford full time.

He rejoined the Toledo library staff in 1979 as a substitute, a position he held until retirement.

Library board of trustees President Dennis Johnson said in a statement that Mr. Palicki was an asset to the staff with a “wonderful book knowledge,” and was particularly resourceful for reference work.

Ms. Sewell said many staff members work at the library for long stretches. “People really stay at the library a long time,” she said. “Thirty-plus years is very common here.”

But 57 years is not.

Ms. Sewell said that to her knowledge, only one library worker has stayed with the library longer than Mr. Palicki.

During that lengthy career, Mr. Palicki has seen the library change drastically with the advent of the Internet, and his work has exposed him to threads of knowledge he might never have encountered.

He said patrons who would never have visited the library now come to use the computers, and while he has stayed far away from Facebook and Twitter, Mr. Palicki stays updated with new electronic research methods.

He has proved himself as an Internet-savvy researcher for patrons while scouring Web sites for such obscure instructions as how to hold twins in a Moby Wrap — a baby sling.

“Did you know what a Moby Wrap was?” Mr. Palicki asked with delight. “I never did either!”

Mr. Palicki began working as a substitute librarian at the Bedford branch of the Monroe County Library System five years ago.

“I’m happy with one day a week to keep me in the mix of things,” he said.

Contact Zoe Gorman at: zgorman@theblade.com or 419-724-6050.

First Published June 25, 2011, 4:30 a.m.