This author is Montauk Library's best friend

Ask Barbara Metzger why she spends most days at the Montauk Library and she answers, "Because that's where the books are."

Her passion for books began when she was young and takes many forms. This avid reader from Montauk worked for years in the publishing field and evolved into an award-winning author. Metzger's daily trips to the library, however, are not for leisurely reading or book signings. Bob-E, as she is known around town, comes to the library to work, and she works hard.

For the past 32 of her 67 years, Metzger has been a volunteer for Friends of the Montauk Library, running its successful fundraising book sales. The sales are held three times a year, including the annual Book Fair that draws thousands of buyers every July on the Village Green and takes in more than $20,000 annually. Funds are used to support the free library programs offered, to upgrade its computers and for other amenities not included in the budget.

Her years of volunteer work have made her somewhat of a local celebrity, but Metzger has garnered a much wider audience as a prolific author of historical romance novels. More recently, she's gravitated to a new genre, cultivating new fans.

"I felt it was time for a change," she explains. "I love the freedom that contemporary fantasy provides. In the historical romances, if I put a pub on the wrong street in London, I would hear from my readers. With the new genre, I made up a town, Paumanok Harbor . . . . My series protagonist, Willow Tate, has paranormal abilities that she uses to solve mysteries. It is a fun genre to work in. A mix of sci-fi, 'chick lit,' mystery, humor, paranormal and fantasy."

She decided that, for the new genre, she needed a new name. "Breaking into a new field, I needed a pen name," she says. "My regular readers expect my usual historical romances. A reader interested in contemporary fantasy would not look for a Barbara Metzger book. I chose Celia Jerome, my parents' first names. They had so much influence in developing my love of writing."

The settings for her novels have moved from Regency-era England to the Hamptons. "Trolls in the Hamptons" and "Night Mares in the Hamptons" are the first two of five books she plans to write featuring the Tate character. The third in the series, "Fire Works in the Hamptons," has just been released by DAW Books in paperback and also will be available as an e-book. (See excerpts online at celiajerome.com.)

Metzger never married and shares her home with a rescued longhair Chihuahua she calls Tino -- short for Valentino. An animal lover, Metzger has written some interesting canines into her books.

When her first novel, "Bethings Folly," was published in 1981, she was a 37-year-old artist specializing in driftwood art, finding her canvas on the beaches of Montauk. Over time, she wrote 41 more historical romance novels and 15 novellas. Among her awards are the Romance Writers of America RITA, the National Reader's Choice Award and the Madcap award for humor in romance writing. She's also won two Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times Magazine.

"Barbara Metzger . . . is a consummate storyteller," says Sheila Gilbert, Metzger's editor at DAW Books. "Whether she is writing romance or modern urban fantasy . . . her characters, her imaginative vision, and her sense of humor meld together to create the kind of delightful tale that will have readers eagerly awaiting the next adventure."

A native of New Rochelle, Metzger earned a degree in philosophy from Connecticut College for Women. After graduation, she worked for a greeting card company, writing poems. "It was great training, playing with words, trying to be innovative," she says. She also worked as an assistant editor at Ace Books and at Pocket Books. "Each position helped me develop my feel for good writing."

She spends mornings and evenings in an easy chair, writing her novels on a laptop, with Tino nearby. During the day, she is usually in the library's basement, where she has devoted hundreds of hours each year, sorting through piles of donated books. She separates them into categories -- fiction, nonfiction, history, art, children's, etc. Grouping the thousands of books is the easy part, she says. When that's done, the books are placed in cardboard boxes for storage and, eventually, transported to the sales area. Two of the smaller sales take place in the library, but the grandest, the Book Fair, takes place outdoors and requires a huge effort by many volunteers.

Athletes talk of being in the zone -- when they do not think about their plays but rely on reflexes from training and experience to react when they need to excel. The Book Fair is Metzger's zone. She plans the event to go off without a major glitch. Metzger supervises the placement of every table, the raising of each tent. She's a field general, leading her army of more than 100 volunteers.

It's a daunting task that wins her praise. Sally Krusch and Pat Donna, new co-presidents of Friends of the Montauk Library, have worked the book sales and credit Metzger's drive for their continued success.

"Bob-E does the work of five people," Krusch says.

"She's working year round, looking at every book that's donated," adds Donna.

"In July [for the Book Fair], there were more than 900 boxes," Metzger says. Each held 15 to 20 books. "It's hard work. We could not do it without the help we get from the Friends and the very giving Montauk community. We need all the help we can get."

This year, extra help came from across the pond. "Three young men from Ireland -- in Montauk working for the summer -- were in the library using our computers," Metzger says. "We asked if they would like to lend a hand loading the trucks, and they cheerfully jumped right in. It is that spirit, that willingness to help that makes the sales a success."

Christine Langerfeld, past president of Friends, says Metzger's "dedication and devotion to the library is unbelievable. She volunteers hundreds of hours, doing the mind-numbing grunt work. Bob-E Metzger is the best friend the Montauk Library could ever have."

With confidence garnered from experience, Metzger says, "I've been doing it for 32 years. I have a system that seems to work. I believe if it ain't broke, don't fix it."