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PITTSTON — Mary Virginia Augello has never been one to ask for rewards for her work and this time was no exception.
Augello, or Virginia as she is commonly known, has been named recipient of the Pittston Memorial Library 2015 Jean Yates Award.
The award is presented annually to a person who has exhibited dedicated service to the library and is named in honor of the late Jean Yates, a library benefactor, volunteer and board member.
According to Pittston Memorial Library Board of Trustees Vice President Kelly Carroll, the award was started because Yates was very active in the library while it was still located in the basement of Pittston City Hall. She said Yates purchased the building the library is in now and donated the building back to the city for the purpose of making it the current Pittston Memorial Library.
Yates passed away on Sept. 23, 2004.
Carroll knew this year’s decision was an easy one.
“Virginia was chosen because of her dedication,” said Carroll. “She’s extremely active and a go-getter. She’s raised a lot of money for the library by doing simple lotteries and so forth. She’s been so active in the past couple of years and it was an obvious choice.”
Previous winners of the Jean Yates Award include Michael Lombardo, Sandy Insalaco, Tom Figue, Friends of the Library, Eileen Burns, Ellen Mondlak, Eva Mae Falcone, Maria Capolarella-Montante, Ed Ackerman and was shared last year by state Rep. Mike Caroll and state Sen. John Yudichak.
“I’m in wonderful company,” said Augello, 58. “This was a surprise … I’m just trying to earn some extra money for the library. I was totally shocked.”
Born and raised in Hughestown, Augello currently resides in Pittston with her husband, Luzerne County Senior Judge Joseph Augello. Together have two daughters — Susan Augello Kuhl, who resides in Exeter with her husband Nathan, and Jeane Augello, who resides in Philadelphia.
Augello graduated from Pittston Area High School in 1974, then attended Luzerne County Community College and Lackawanna College, taking real estate and accounting classes.
While attending college, she also worked at the Luzerne County Courthouse in Wilkes-Barre.
“While I was in high school, I worked at the Bureau of Employment Security for the summers, and I was lucky enough that when I graduated I was going to apply for (another job with them) and they weren’t taking any applications for jobs at the employment office,” said Augello. “One of the gentlemen that was working at the Bureau of Employment Security said he had an opening and asked if I would be interested in going to the courthouse and that there was a program that was hiring students for the summer at the courthouse. I went down and stayed on forever.”
She spent her time doing bookkeeping and clerk duties, working worked her way up the rank to director of the Luzerne County Tax Claim Bureau. She also served as Pennsylvania State Tax Claim Legislative Officer, collecting delinquent property taxes, holding that position until she retired in 2005.
It was not until after her retirement that Augello became involved with the Pittston Memorial Library. Prior to that, however, she was coerced by none other than Yates herself to volunteer earlier.
“Jean called me back in the early 2000s and, at that time, I was working full time in Wilkes-Barre,” said Augello. “My younger daughter was in school at Scranton Prep and my older daughter was in school at Pittsburgh, so I’m running from one place to another. I said to her, ‘Jean, I’m sorry, right now my plate is so overloaded and I don’t have the time right now. But, someday I will be there at the library to do some volunteer work,’ and she said ‘Okay, I’ll hold you to it.’ Here I am all these years later.”
After years of volunteering, Augello would eventually join the library’s ad hoc committee, a group of volunteers that supports the library board of directors by offering ideas on fundraising, volunteer work or other events.
She would also become a member of the Friends of the Pittston Library, a group of individuals who volunteer time to help raise funds for library programs. Events that Augello has helped raise funds for include the annual Taste of Greater Pittston, Nite at the Races and the Barnes & Noble Book Sale.
With a few years of volunteering behind her and many more to come, Augello said it’s been her time with the Friends of the Library and the looks on the faces of children that has made her volunteering worthwhile.
“I love the Friends,” said Augello. “I love the comaraderie and seeing all of the little kids get excited coming in just to get a book out. That’s nice. When I’m stopping in and dropping things off or picking things up, I see the little kids coming in and that’s nice.”
Augello will be honored at the Jean Yates Award Dinner which will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15 at the Gramercy Restaurant in Pittston. Tickets can be purchased by contacting the Pittston Memorial Library at 570-654-9565.