Barbara A. Burns, 81, of Wooster died Tuesday, October 29, 2019 at West View Healthy Living.
She was born September 24, 1938 in Shreve to Robert C. and Myrna Aukerman Burns.
Barbara was a 1956 graduate of Wooster High School. She was the head of the Bookmobile and was known as the Bookmobile Lady , for the Wayne County Public Library until her retirement in 2000.
She is survived by her nieces and nephews Todd Carillon, Chad Carillon, Marielle Savoca, Bob Burns and Ronnie Burns; great nephews Anthony and Dominic Savoca, many other great nieces and nephews and a sister-in-law Beverly Burns.
Barbara was preceded in death by her parents, sister Shirley Carillon, brother Roger L. Burns and a niece Laurie Rector.
Funeral services will be held on Monday, November 4, 2019 at 1:00 PM at McIntire, Bradham & Sleek Funeral Home, 216 E. Larwill St., Wooster. Interment will follow in Sherwood Memorial Gardens.
Friends will be received from 11:00 AM until the time of the service on Monday.
Contributions may be directed to the American Heart Association, 1575 Corporate Woods Parkway, Suite 150 Uniontown, OH 44685.
Online condolences may be left for the family at www.mcintirebradhamsleek.com
Memorial Contributions
American Heart Association, 1575 Corporate Woods Parkway, Suite 150 Uniontown, OH 44685
Service
Monday, November 4, 2019 at 1:00 PM at the funeral home
Visitation
From 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM on Monday at the funeral home
What a wonderful lady !!! She helped me find some extremely complicated reads every summer as a child and fostered my love of literature.
She was truly a blessing to all who were lucky enough to meet her. My condolences to her family and friends.
Oh,my,yes Barbara! From the bookmoblie! Condolences to the family.she looks different than she did when I was MUCH younger! She’s in Jesus arms now,bless her heart
I always looked forward to seeing Miss Burns on the Bookmobile; she had a knack for helping me find just the right book each week! She was patient, kind, and a lovely lady. Thank you, Miss Burns, for fostering the love of reading in the lives of many students.
I taught second grade at Wooster Twp.School. I remember how Barbara would come into each class to tell about the Summer Reading Program. Hello, I am Miss Burns from the Bookmobile ( She would say this really fast)and let me tell you about our Summer Program for reading. The children were excited to hear what the fun theme would be to help them continue reading over the summer.
I taught second grade at Wooster Twp.School. I remember how Barbara would come into each class to tell about the Summer Reading Program. Hello, I am Miss Burns from the Bookmobile ( She would say this really fast)and let me tell you about our Summer Program for reading. The children were excited to hear what the fun theme would be to help them continue reading over the summer.
Miss Burns had such an impact on so many Wayne County school children, including me, during her many years of service to the library on the bookmobile. She was such a special, kind-hearted person and a blessing to our community.
Those of us who grew up in rural Wayne County know what a great lady Miss Burns was. I always looked forward to the Bookmobile from the time I could pick out picture books. Miss Burns made that bus a portal to the world before you could surf the internet. Without judgment, she indulged my early teen interest in chemistry … through books on wine making and my brother’s endless interest in the history of war and firearms. She helped me travel the globe reading James Clavell, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and Paul Theroux. During the overcast Ohio winters she opened the galaxy with books on astronomy and space travel.. She was always cheery. I remember she laughed a lot. Especially when we surprised her with a request for books on the next new topic radically different from the last. And she always came through. The perfect book or the best suggestion on what to read next was always there the next time the Bookmobile pulled up at the IGA in West Salem. Whether she realized it or not she made a big difference in the lives of so many kids though her gentle encouragement to pursue whatever our interest were at whatever age it struck us. We are poorer without her.
Thank you Miss Burns! I have never forgotten what you gave to me. A love of books and reading. I could not wait for that Bookmobile to pull into the school.
You are now in that big library in Heaven. Find me some good ones until I get there. See you on the other side.
I had the opportunity to drive the Bookmobile for 4 yrs. Barbara was a nice lady and her patrons loved her for her kindness and her friendship towards everyone who used the Bookmobile. Her years of experience on the Bookmobile and the help of her staff gave her the advantage needed to provide what patrons wanted plus books they reserved for the next Bookmobile visit. She will long be remembered as the Bookmobile Lady, for the many years of caring service she gave. I went through some years of personal issues but Barb and the other ladies on the Bookmobile put up with me during those years until I eventually quit. All in all Barb, we loved you, God Bless.
Barbara’s enthusiasm for books and reading during her decades on the Wayne County Bookmobile had a positive impact on countless children and adults as they asked her “what should I read next?”. Her dedication was appreciated by all who value literacy and reading.
It seems as if I grew up with Barbara Burns, I went often to the First Church of God in Wooster as a child and knew her from there. I saw her on the bookmobile at school, and later knew Miss Burns as a co worker at the Wayne County Public Library. She told me to call her Barb when we started to work together and that was hard, she was always Miss Burns to me! Barb was an institution at the library, she was such a part of it and it seems so odd that she is not at the library, on the bookmobile, and that she has passed away. Rest well Miss Burns!
I worked with Barbara on the Bookmobile for several summers during my college (OSU) days. She was so kind and helpful to me as an employee. I first met her when the Bookmobile rolled into Apple Creek during my elementary school days and she was just as kind and helpful to a young child who loved to read. I graduated from OSU (where I worked as an undergrad in their library) but they did not have a program for librarianship. After being married and raising 8 children I was able to finally get the Master of Library Science degree from the University of South Carolina. For the past 10 years I have been the librarian at Oquirrh Hills Middle School in Utah. Barbara was my inspiration and if I can use that in my relationship with students to encourage their reading – her legacy will carry on. My condolences to her family.
I am so sorry to see this. Ms. Burns came with the bookmobile all year long to our Dalton Elementary School before Dalton had a library branch. She was always smiling and laughing with 2 rosy cheeks. She let me check out large stacks of books and during the summers, she would give me my prize and reading certificate every time I read 10 books. She was so friendly and kind to me. And then I had a full circle moment when I got my first library job at the Shreve branch of the Wayne County Public Library and I went to a meeting at the Wooster library and there she was. I was too overcome with emotion to talk to her but I was so happy to see her again. I’ve been a bookmobile youth services librarian for 10 years now and I can only hope that I am half the librarian she was. She touched my life so much. Rest in peace Ms. Burns.