The Librarian Who Retired and Only Got Busier

Logan Ragsdale pulled up to the estate sale at a golden-brick home in East Dallas last Friday later than he intended, but only because he couldn’t tear himself away from an earlier one in Richardson.

Still catching his breath after the trek from his car, the 70-year-old walked past the glassware, clothing, tools, and bric-a-brac in the front rooms. He didn’t break stride until he reached the den, piled with books, documents, and photographs. Hopefully there were still treasures to be found.

“The paper,” he said, his blue eyes widening behind his neon yellow and blue glasses. “I always go straight for the paper.”

With gentle, cautious hands, Ragsdale examined one piece at a time. A rolled-up Native American print from the 1960s. Scale exercises for piano students. Post cards sent from Prague and Paris.

A framed Dallas County tax receipt from 1871, signed by the sheriff and designated for “frontier protection,” caught his eye. He held the small framed piece of paper for three long minutes before putting it back on the shelf; $95 was more than he should spend.

“But wouldn’t it be great for that to go into the library?” he said. “That is part of Dallas’ story.”

This is how Ragsdale, a North Texas native with a 50-year career in libraries, spends his days. He could fill his retirement with vacations with his longtime partner and leisurely dinners with friends, but he can’t help but help. While many of his peers have settled into a slower pace, Ragsdale is busy, maybe busier than he’s ever been, leaving his mark in pockets in Dallas and beyond.

When he’s not combing estate sales for historically significant artifacts to contribute to city archives, Ragsdale is greeting senior citizens at financial aid workshops or reading to preschoolers. He finds a way to stamp each day with small contributions. 

His donations to the Dallas Public Library have led to the Logan Ragsdale Collection, two boxes of items like scrapbooks, maps, catering menus, and 1954 State Fair playbills. Among his most recent finds are a 1920s-era social magazine called The Dallasite and a framed montage of photos commemorating the 1957 renaming of Dal-Hi Stadium after longtime DISD athletic director P.C. Cobb.

Ragsdale also hunts for books. On Friday he bought a copy of “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff with Your Family” — just in case he crosses paths with someone whom it might benefit. Occasionally he strays from the papers and books to look for things like instruments for children to play during his storytimes or Santa hats to give away at his annual Christmas party at the Red Oak Library.

“It’s dangerous when I don’t have official volunteer work because these estate sales are addictive,” he said, laughing. “But my best days are when I feel I’ve been productive. That’s what keeps me on track.”

In college, Ragsdale found joy in connecting people with information while working a part-time library job. The experience eventually led him to become circulation manager of the Denton Public Library and then director of the Bridgeport Public Library, about 50 miles northwest of Fort Worth. He went on to work for libraries in Irving, New York City, and finally Red Oak, in Ellis County just south of Dallas, where he spent eight years before retiring.

“Librarians are helpers, not just with books,” he said, “and that’s what I always wanted to be.”

He acknowledges, haltingly, that his penchant for helping also stems from a childhood that was not entirely sunny. His parents split up when he was 5 and, several years later, when his siblings decided to live in another city with his father, 9-year-old Logan’s reaction was to stay with his mother so she was not alone. 

“I was unhappy, but I was the family peacemaker. I wanted my brother and sisters to be happy. I wanted everyone else to be happy,” he said. “Your childhood difficulties lead you to treasure certain things and to treasure history and place. That’s what a lot of this is about for me.”

Ragsdale reflected on a father who brings his baby to the weekly storytime he leads at Red Oak Library. “The baby is too young to participate — this is really for preschoolers — but he sits with that baby, sings all the songs, does all the little hand motions. That bonding means so much for me to see.”

Experiences like that are why Ragsdale has continued leading the Tuesday storytime since retiring as the library’s director in 2023. Some weeks, 30 children and caregivers attend; other times the crowd is double that number. “I dance with them, I sing with them. I’ll jump up and down, and you know, twirl and stuff like that.”

“Five, four, three, two, one. Blastoff! Another rocketship run,” he sang, rapidly tapping his fingers on the table to demonstrate the countdown.

Since Little Joy Cafe opened last year near his home in Oak Cliff, Ragsdale has also been a guest reader at its weekend children’s storytime. “He puts his whole self into it and the kids love it,” said Russell Tibbits, who owns the neighborhood gathering place with his wife, Allison Macalik. “When he leaves, he’s wet and panting for breath and laughing that ‘I don’t know if I can do another one.’”

In addition to captivating the children with his performances, Ragsdale keeps tabs on the coffee shop staff’s interests. He regularly brings them books he thinks they’ll like, found at estate sales, of course. 

“How does he manage to remember all that?” Tibbits said. “He just does it for everybody.”

Soon after he retired, Ragsdale attended a Medicare information session sponsored by the Senior Source, which offers resources for older adults. When it was over, he asked if the Dallas nonprofit could use another volunteer. Two weeks later, he was there from sunup to sundown to help run a utility assistance event that attracted hundreds of local residents.

Today, Ragsdale is the welcoming face at the registration table for legal-services workshops, financial help sessions, and AC giveaways. He’s the one wearing the huge red and white striped hat made famous in Dr. Seuss books. 

“I like wearing that, it brings smiles,” he said. “People might be grumpy because of the heat or the long wait or the lines or everything, and I walk in with that, and people think of happy Dr. Seuss memories.”

Ragsdale is not satisfied to simply sit behind a table and register the participants, said Shelby Abeyta, a member of the Senior Source executive team. He asks clients if he can bring them bottles of water, carry their bags to their seats, or answer any questions. “He’s somebody who sees every opportunity to serve and make clear, ‘You’re a valuable member of our community, and we’re excited to be able to help you,’” Abeyta said.   

Many of those served by the nonprofit aren’t accustomed to asking for help and often are under debilitating financial stress when they show up, she said. “A lot of them are facing choices like ‘am I paying my groceries and my medication this month or my utilities and my rent?’”

On one occasion, Carl Burlbaw, whose work at the Senior Source includes overseeing special projects, asked Ragsdale to help an older woman manage her finances. “That’s not me,” Ragsdale recalled thinking. “I’m not exactly financially responsible all the time.” But what the woman needed most was someone to be an empathetic, consistent presence, and that’s what Ragsdale does best.

“He puts people at ease,” Burlbaw said. “He wants to connect people to information and resources. Service is just deep in his nature.”

Amid Ragsdale’s niches of nonstop service, time for himself admittedly falls to the wayside. “Should I be on a diet? Yes,” he said with a big laugh. “Should I be exercising? Yes. Should I — I was gonna say, should I slow down?”

He can’t. There are too many estate sales to scour, too many children to read to, too many seniors to assist, too many treasures to find.

“I don’t think I’ll ever slow down.”

Sharon Grigsby is the co-founder and senior writer of The Lab Report. sharon@labreportdallas.com.