Sheila Umberger, who began working for the city in 1982, leaves behind a transformative legacy.
On a chilly December morning in downtown Roanoke, dozens gather inside the Main Branch of the Roanoke Public Libraries. Some find a seat and shut their eyes after a long night out in the cold. Others flock upstairs to a row of public computers.
Sheila Umberger proceeds to the third floor. From there, in the same corridor where she has worked for 21 years, from the same office with its pale-wooden door and sterile-white walls that every director of libraries has occupied since 1952, she oversees a complex operation involving six physical branches, three e-branches, and as many as 100 employees.
Roanoke’s public libraries are the city’s reception room. These brightly lit buildings are a rare example of indoor public space — offering heat in winter and cool air in summer, food for the hungry, and a warm welcome regardless of age, identity, immigration status or income…