Kaye Finley has spent much of her past guiding students toward a bright and promising future.
Finley will retire from the Beebe School District at the end of the school year after 39 years of dedication to the district.
She said the decision to retire was a difficult one.
“It’s probably one of the most difficult decisions I have made in my life, or at least it feels that way,” Finley said.
Finley has been a library media specialist at Beebe Elementary School for 29 years.
“For five years, I was a resource education teacher, and for five years I was a fourth-grade teacher,” Finley explained.
“The rest of the time, I’ve been in the library. It hasn’t always been here in this library, though,” she said.
“It’s been anywhere from pre-K through seventh grade. Right now, it’s second through fourth grade,” Finley said.
“We have two libraries, and they serve a little over 800 students. I see all of those students every other week,” she said.
Finley said there’s no such thing as a normal day in the library.
“I do have a committee that I work on,” she said. “I’m the Arkansas Comprehensive Improvement Plan process manager, so I’m the one who puts it all together, and I’m responsible for making sure everything gets done.”
Finley said she wasn’t a reader growing up but started to become interested in books when she was in junior high school.
Finley worked in the library in college at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.
“I read all of the current literature and all of the new fiction at the time,” she said enthusiastically.
“When I came here to work as a classroom teacher, my best friend and my mentor was the building librarian. I saw how she worked and how she was a part of the school behind the scenes,” Finley said.
“When you’re in the library, you’re on a lot of committees and do a lot of background things. I saw that and realized that was something I’d want to do some day,” Finley said.
Finley said she fell into the position, but she has really enjoyed it.
“I did miss teaching in a classroom, but I never regretted the change,” she explained.
Finley said she likes being involved with the students and staff.
“I get to see all of the students. Unfortunately, you don’t get to know them as well as you want to. At least you get to meet them, see them and recognize them in the hallway,” she said.
“I also get to be involved with the staff,” Finley said. “You get to build relationships with all of the teachers and see the other side. You kind of see how things work.
“In the classroom, I was focused on my grade level and colleagues but didn’t really see how the whole system worked. In my career and on committees over the years, I’ve gotten to see how the school works and how it all works together. It makes you appreciate your job and your school when you see how it takes all of us to make it work.”
Finley said the most important part of her job is giving children access to books, information and a place to be themselves.
“That’s the main goal and the purpose,” she said.
“Sometimes kids just need a place where they’re accepted. There’s no judgment in here, and they’re free to be themselves,” she said.
“I’ve had students who didn’t have a niche, didn’t have a place to go, and the library was kind of a sanctuary for them,” Finley said. “Hopefully, you make an impact. Hopefully, you connect them with that book that could be life-changing.
“When I first started in the library, I had to hand out candy to get kids to check out a book. Now they come to the library, and they have lists. They know what they want.”
Finley said that in her years at the library in Beebe, there have been two fires and a tornado that caused damage to the school.
“I’ve helped rebuild three libraries from the ashes up with a lot of support,” she said.
“I saw how powerful our staff and community were. Everyone was so supportive and allowed me to rebuild the libraries and the collection,” she said.
“We as a district overcame those obstacles, and we thrived,” she said. “No one ever gave up, and we came back better and stronger every time.
“It’s like it’s happening to your own home when those things happen, but we were able to make life as normal as possible for our students and staff.”
Finley said one never knows the impact one makes on a student.
“Several years ago, I had a young student follow me around Walmart and point me out to their parents,” Finley said. “The mother asked who I was, and the student said, ‘I don’t know, but she’s famous. She’s in the library.’
“That was the ultimate compliment to me.”
Finley said she would be in the medical field if she hadn’t gone into education.
“It’s a service industry like education,” she said.
Finley attended Beebe schools from the first grade until graduation.
She got her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Central Arkansas.
“Elementary was my major, and special education was my minor. My master’s degree was in library media,” Finley said.
Finley was born in Harrison, then moved to Heber Springs, where her dad worked on the Greers Ferry Dam.
“We moved to Beebe when I was 6 years old and started school. I came back after college,” she said.
“I grew up mainly on a farm out in the country,” Finley said.
“Every year we try to take our girls on a vacation. They know we’re going to do historical stuff before fun stuff,” she said, laughing.
Finley is married to Joe Finley, a former teacher, and has four grown stepchildren.
She said the couple have four grandchildren as well.
“We have twin daughters together who are completing college soon,” she said.
Finley said she is a part of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, the Arkansas Education Association, the National Education Association, the Arkansas Association of Instructional Media and the Arkansas Reading Association.
Finley said that after her retirement, she hopes to spend more time with her husband and family, volunteer and travel the United States.
“I will miss working with students, and I will miss the relationships I have made not only in this school, but with others in our district and beyond,” Finley said.
Finley enjoys reading, fishing and traveling to historic parks and landmarks in her free time.
Janice Dillard, a second-grade teacher at Beebe Elementary School, said she has worked with Finley for around 22 years.
“Kaye is very friendly, talkative, and she has a good listening ear. She is a very good listener,” Dillard said.
“She’s very dedicated to the school as a whole. She’s very devoted,” Dillard said.
“My first year of teaching here, she and I worked together. She was very gentle, encouraging and patient. I couldn’t have had a better person to start my school year with,” Dillard said.
“She’s a stronghold here,” she said. “She is very knowledgeable about everything that goes on in the school system — not just what she does here in the library.
“If she had a task to do, you could be sure Kaye would fulfill that task, and it would be done professionally and in a timely manner. She’s always been very mindful of making sure things were done efficiently and professionally.”
Rhonda McNeill teaches Gifted and Talented to second-, third- and fourth-graders at Beebe Elementary School. She has worked with Finley for 17 years.
“Kaye is very knowledgeable about life,” McNeill said.
“She takes pride in where she came from, the school she teaches in, the community and the kids,” she said.
“She’s always willing to help you get what you need. She goes above and beyond for the kids and the staff,” McNeill said.
“She’s up to date, and she grows with the kids. She stays in touch with them, and they love her,” she said.
“She’s truly going to be missed,” McNeill said.
Staff writer Kayla Baugh can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or kbaugh@arkansasonline.com.