PORTSMOUTH — There is perhaps no profession more burdened with stereotypes than librarian.

We picture cardigan sweaters. Whispering. A look of polite disappointment when somebody speaks too loudly near the biographies.

And then there is Carolyn Magnus, retiring director of the Portsmouth Free Public Library, who — to be fair — does not entirely shatter the image. She is reserved and soft-spoken, thoughtful with her words, exactly the sort of person you might trust to recommend a good mystery novel or quietly rescue you from the printer when it inevitably jams five minutes before closing.

June 30 will be her last day at the library.

Magnus has served as director since July 1, 2007, though her history there stretches back to October 1998, when she started as a public services librarian handling reference work, programming and “the website way back then,” as she put it.

Before that, she worked part-time at Middletown Public Library while earning her master’s degree from the University of Rhode Island.

Before that, however, comes the plot twist no one expects in a librarian story: Trident submarines.

For years, Magnus worked as a defense contractor preparing manuals and technical documentation for Trident submarines. Which, honestly, is not entirely different from librarianship. Both involve information, organization and the hope that nobody has misplaced anything critical.

Magnus grew up mostly in Middletown after being born in Newport. Her parents, both Newport natives, worked as professional gardeners on local estates.

The library she leaves behind this summer is far different from the one she entered nearly 27 years ago.

“When I first started here, there wasn’t a children’s room,” she said.

Now, the children’s area is one of the busiest spaces in the building, helped along by children’s librarian John Hanks, whom Magnus described warmly as “wonderful.”

The library itself has evolved into far more than a place to borrow books. Children come for story times, crafts and summer reading programs. Teens gather for Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, book clubs and workshops. Adults attend genealogy talks, wellness presentations and lectures.

More than 5,000 people pass through the doors each month.

“We’re also doing a lot more programming — trying to get people in the door,” Magnus said. “I think people tend to read less, because they’re always busy. I know that that’s the way it is with me.”

COVID changed the library too, shifting meetings and outreach online, but circulation has since rebounded. New carpeting was installed about a year and a half ago through a Champlin Foundation grant, and new upstairs furniture is on the way.

Funding remains a balancing act. The town covers roughly 71-72% of the operating budget, while grants and private donations help pay for improvements and programs. Magnus said she genuinely enjoys writing grants, which may be the most librarian sentence ever spoken.

The annual Taste of Portsmouth fundraiser also helps. During the event, local restaurants and liquor stores offer samples to attendees wandering the library with wine glasses in hand.

“We find wine glasses in the stacks, you know?” Magnus said.

Somewhere between fiction and nonfiction, apparently, sits a hidden archaeological record of cabernet.

Can’t do it without them

Magnus speaks especially warmly about the library staff.

“Without them, it all falls apart,” she said.

When hiring employees, she looks less for outgoing personalities than kindness.

“I look for somebody who’s personable, kind, not necessarily outgoing, but friendly and into public service.”

That philosophy feels fitting for a library founded in 1897 by a literary discussion group called the Thursday Evening Group. The original building, Magnus noted, was tiny.

“No bathroom,” she added.

Civilization has advanced since then.

Asked what she likes to read herself, Magnus quickly mentioned British mysteries and classics. “There’s a reason they’re classic,” she said.

Her favorite novel is A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles, which she has read three times. She loves the story’s central idea: a man confined to a hotel whose life remains unexpectedly rich and meaningful.

“Sometimes the first time through, you’re sort of in a rush to get through,” she said. “And then you pick up on different things the second or third time.”

What’s next

Retirement will begin with a trip to Germany alongside her daughter for a wedding and a reunion with a former German student intern who lived with Magnus during her first year as director.

After that, she plans to catch up on reading — her own choices this time — continue going to the gym and “just do stuff.”

Which sounds modest until you realize that “stuff,” in Carolyn Magnus terms, included guiding a beloved institution through decades of technological change, a pandemic, endless programming, fundraising campaigns and thousands upon thousands of readers.

Quiet work, perhaps.

But important work all the same.