FOR A GOOD CAUSE -- Edythe Chetkin

-- Story by Deepa Bharath, photo by [tk]

Twice a week every week, Edythe Chetkin tells her husband as she steps

out the door: “I’m off to work.”

And they both laugh.

But they know that the 78-year-old Newport Beach resident means

serious business when she sets off to the Newport Beach Central Library,

where she has worked as a volunteer for more than 12 years.

“I love the library,” Chetkin said. “I love the books, the films, and

I love being around young people.”

For several years, she volunteered at least 10 hours a week, but now

she says she has cut that down by half. She used to like stacking and

sorting tapes.

“Now, I work more at the back office, where I can sit down and work,”

she said.

There, she works with the librarians, cleaning books and videos and

replacing the magazine racks.

“It just feels good to know I’m helping somebody,” Chetkin said.

“These people have a lot to do, and they could use the help.”

Chetkin, who was born in New York City, has traveled all over the

country, doing most of it before she and her family settled down in

Newport Beach 24 years ago. She now lives with her husband of 48 years,

Leonard.

Chetkin’s services are “very valuable” to the library, said Judy

Kelley, the youth and branch services manager.

“She is valuable because of her longevity and experience,” she said.

“She just knows so much.”

Chetkin is one of 300 volunteers who donate time to the city’s library

system, Kelley said. Together they contribute about 2,400 hours a year,

the equivalent of time worked by 15 full-time employees.

Working with Chetkin is also a pleasurable experience for library

employees, she said.

“She’s a very upbeat and positive person, and that reflects in her

personality and her work,” Kelley said. “The staff picks up on that, and

it makes us feel good.”

As for Chetkin, she says she’ll keep going as long as she can stay on

her feet.

“I look forward to coming here,” she said. “I’ll do it for as long as

they’ll have me.”