• David Tewes •
• Originally published February 19, 2009 at 11:27 a.m., updated February 19, 2009 at 11:27 a.m.

If there's any question in your mind about where James Stewart stands on the need for more space at the Victoria Public Library, just ask him.

"We're under built by any formula that you have," said Stewart, the library's director. "We're short on square footage for the population we serve."

It would take another 50,000 square feet and $7 million to get the library to where it should be, he said. But come Jan. 31, that will be something for someone else to worry about.

Stewart is retiring after 30 years as Victoria's head librarian and after 50 years of working in the library business.

"It has been a great ride," he said. "It really has."

But there are other things Stewart wants to do, including consulting for other libraries and the customary traveling. Stewart's wife, Mitzie, is the serials librarian over magazines and subscriptions at the Victoria College/University of Houston-Victoria Library.

She's not made a decision about when she will retire, Stewart said. "I think it would probably be good if both of us aren't dealing at the same time with the surprises that come with retirement."

While Stewart is leaving at a time when he believes the library desperately needs to expand, things were just the opposite when he arrived in 1978.

The library had just moved a few years earlier from the 3,000-square-foot Nave to the 33,000-square-foot building it's in now.

"That's where Victoria needed to be at the time," he said. "Victoria was way, way overdue for a new building and they got that."

The biggest setback of his career in Victoria is not being able to make the case to elected officials on the need for more space, he said. It's something he believes people would support if it were put to a vote in the form of a bond issue to pay for more space.

About 40,000 people, or nearly half of Victoria County's population, have library cards. That's a point of pride for Stewart, who views it as a sign of how popular the library is.

"I think we're the most heavily used public building that doesn't have compulsory attendance," he said. "I hear a lot more compliments than I hear complaints."

And if you're wondering if Stewart was named for the actor, wonder no longer. The answer is a polite no.

His parents already had two older boys and were hoping for a girl that would have been named Jane.

"But they looked down and saw the plumbing was wrong and said, 'Well let's make him James,'" he said. "It had nothing to do with Hollywood."

Because the name has been a bone of contention at least since first grade, Stewart said he's always valued people that don't bring that up when he meets them.

There was a time when Stewart wasn't so sure he would be around long enough to retire. He enjoyed jogging to stay in shape, but was also a heavy smoker.

That ended 11 years ago when he came back from a four-mile jog one Sunday morning and wasn't feeling well.

The resulting trip to the hospital showed he had four arterial blockages, two of which were 90 percent and two of which were 100 percent.

He's since had triple bypass surgery and a stint implanted.

"That has nothing to do with retirement, but it does make you look at life differently," Stewart said. "You reassess your friendships and try to devote more time to those and sort out what really is important at work and what is not as important."

Stewart, currently the city's longest-tenured department head, said it's difficult to point to one thing as his biggest accomplishment. It's a culmination of all the things he's done to serve the public.

"We've opened our doors on time," he said. "We've been available for service. We have given lots of service day-in and day-out on the days we've been open for the last 30 years."

Stewart can use his fingers to count the number of days the library wasn't opened on schedule, and usually that was because of something like a hurricane threat.

"I've tried to always make sure there's something that reflects the interest of all Victorians if I'm aware of it," he said. "We try to do across the board what we're supposed to do."

That includes catering to the needs of customers interested in everything from auto repairs and sports to cooking and investing.

"Do we please everybody?" he asked. "Absolutely not. I don't think anybody would claim that they do."

• ABOUT JAMES STEWART

  Born Sept. 12, 1944, in Bryan.

  His dad worked for the federal civil service and the family moved often, living in such places as Fort Worth, San Antonio, San Marcos and Waco, where he graduated from high ...

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ABOUT JAMES STEWART

Born Sept. 12, 1944, in Bryan.

His dad worked for the federal civil service and the family moved often, living in such places as Fort Worth, San Antonio, San Marcos and Waco, where he graduated from high school in 1963.

Served in the U.S. Army from February 1968 to January 1970. Was a member of the 101st Airborne, putting in combat time in Vietnam from February 1969 to October 1969.

Earned a bachelor's degree in government in 1971 and a master's degree in library science in 1972, both from the University of Texas.

Started full time as a reference librarian in Corpus Christi in January 1973 and ended up as an information department head before leaving for Victoria in September 1978.

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