Elizabeth Merklein (March 22, 1955 – January 26, 2025) was a children’s storyteller who not only relished in sharing her love for books to the numerous families she encountered at her Storytimes but she also had many stories of her own to share with whomever crossed her life’s journey.
Born to explore, Elizabeth would fall in love with traveling locally and abroad, however, she would always be a farm girl at heart. Born the middle child of 8 siblings to parents Albert and Mary Kathryn Cowan in rural Indianapolis, Indiana, she would always have stories to tell about taking care of the horses and farm life. When the family moved south to Shreveport, Louisiana, the stories took a hilarious turn from farm animals to the girls only catholic school run by the nuns. After attending Louisiana Tech for a short time, Elizabeth met her future husband Gene who was in the Air Force and decided to become the supportive military wife and mother to three girls, Priscilla, Abigail and Jennifer. The Five Merkleins had many adventures over the years with Elizabeth leading the way. After Gene retired, the family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina where Elizabeth was finally able to hone her storytelling skills working at the Charlotte Public Library.
Even though she started working in Circulation, Elizabeth never missed an opportunity to educate herself in other areas of the library. She would eventually move over to the Children’s Department and that was where her light shined. Whether it was a storytime, outreach, community events or a simple one-on-one interaction, families of all ages would always know that Ms. Elizabeth would have the information they were looking for. The local bakery would assist in getting her some cookies for her storytimes. The community mothers would ask her to come to a kid’s birthday party because the child ‘absolutely loved Ms. Elizabeth.’ Not afraid of technology, Elizabeth also became a favorite for her Zoom storytimes when the families couldn’t attend in person.
Elizabeth would never call herself a true librarian as she was never able to obtain her graduate degree in Library Science, however she embodied the true spirit and calling of a librarian in every sense of the word. Sharing the love of reading and making sure everyone she came in contact with had access to literacy was a passion for her which is why she loved working with the Outreach Department. Whether it was community events, day care centers, or pre-schools, Elizabeth thrived when she saw those faces light up when she read her stories or turned on the latest hit song for a little dance.
Growing up, her daughters would often hear how, ‘your mom is the best’ and ‘we just absolutely love working with your mom.’ Sometimes it was hard to live up to her star power, but the family knew that Elizabeth wasn’t a person who could just sit in the corner. She had to help anyone she could and show the world that community was more than just a word. Community was helping each other, being supportive of each other and being good role models for those young impressionable patrons that come in the library for assistance. The term ‘work mom’ has been used over the years by many of her coworkers to describe Elizabeth and it is a fitting description. She had a way to recognize potential and provide whatever support was needed for that person whether personally or professionally.
Elizabeth’s death came as a surprise to all who knew and loved her; however, her legacy will live on through her family and friends. Her granddaughter Haley’s love of horses brought back all the stories of farm life and granddaughter Mara has taken to her love of books and art. Her loved ones will always be replaying stories and anecdotes heard over the years in their heads because even though Margaret Wise Brown wrote in Elizabeth’s favorite book Goodnight Moon, ‘Goodnight noises everywhere,’ Elizabeth’s noise will always be there supporting them in any way that she can.
Donations in Elizabeth’s memory can be made to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation, Outreach Department.