5Qs with Connie Williams, Petaluma Library Historian and 2026 “Good Egg”

What do you do at the History Room to preserve Petaluma history?

My job is to connect people to the materials that are here. I do that by ensuring that the materials are in what we call a “housing,” correctly placed, so that they can last for another 150 years. I try to collect as many of those memories that are happening right now, because history is happening now, and to preserve them as best we can as part of the library and make them available and accessible for people. 

What’s a typical day like for you? 

Now that I’m downstairs [in the new library], and people know that I’m here, it’s a lot more fun. I’m here three days a week, and when I’m here, a day can be anything. People can email me with their request for information, usually related to their ancestors here in Petaluma, or their house, or an event that they participated in as a child. Other people will come in, and they’ll look at the materials, usually yearbooks. And once they’re here, that’ll spark some kind of question. I’ll show people how to do research themselves, and then I will help them along the way. 

What have you learned about Petaluma through your work?

Petaluma is a fun and interesting town. It's a unique area with a unique perspective on things. We take so much from so many kinds of people here, and we truly are a mixture of a lot of cultures and a lot of viewpoints. Our rough-and-tumble town grew up into this really nice place to live.

What would you like people to know about the History Room? 

I’d like people to know that they can come here and I would love to work with them. I love connecting people to history, and also to reading, and to anything they need to connect to. That’s what I do best: connecting.

If you could have dinner with anyone from Petaluma’s past, who would it be?

I would have dinner with the women of the Ladies Improvement Club. They are the people that were movers and shakers behind so much of the beautification here in town [during the late 1800s and early 1900s], and so much of making the town a town. 

This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and readability.