For Toby Friedman, the desire to lend a helping hand is something that was passed down to her.

The 66-year-old’s mother before her was also a nurse, and her grandmother was a midwife. Friedman herself spent 37 years in the field.

“I want to say it was in my blood,” Friedman said. She retired in 2013 to dedicate her time to volunteering and her grandchildren.

But before ever becoming a nurse, volunteer and grandmother, Friedman was born in upstate New York, the third of seven children.

“My home life was always hectic, which I liked,” Friedman said. “That’s what I was used to.”

Friedman’s family moved from upstate New York to Philadelphia when she was still in elementary school. She called the transition from rural to city life “an awakening,” where she was influenced by not only her family, but the city itself. She lived in Philadelphia until graduating from high school, when she promptly started attending Kutztown University.

Friedman originally intended on majoring in biology, but after going to school for one year, she took a break. She went back at 21, this time to Bucks County Community College, where she earned a degree in nursing. Friedman would eventually go on to obtain a bachelor’s degree in nursing from La Salle University.

As a nurse, Friedman worked in med-SURG, in-home care and hospice. While she might have had a boisterous upbringing, when it came to her career, she preferred the calm and intimate nature of working with patients one-on-one. She moved to Carbon County in 2006, in hopes to spend more time with her grandchildren.

About five years ago, Friedman got the itch “to do something different,” from nursing. Her opportunity came in the form of a nonprofit called Friends of the Dimmick Memorial Library, an organization aimed at raising funds for the library. At first, Friedman helped sell used books out of Dimmick’s Friends’ House, which sat at 58 Broadway in Jim Thorpe.

When the Friends’ House sold in 2016, Friedman directed her efforts from raising money for the library to working in it.

To this day, she spends two hours almost every week at Dimmick, alphabetizing and cataloging some of the 25,700 pieces in its collection. She often brings her service dog Hunter, a 6-year-old Rottweiler mix, along with her. He’s quiet, and a big hit with the kids.

Over the past year, Friedman also started volunteering at Penn Forest Volunteer Fire Company. She does whatever she can to help, whether that’s serving food at the company’s monthly breakfasts or setting up for events.

Of volunteering, Friedman said simply, “It’s a good way to spend your time.”

“First of all, it makes you feel better to be doing something helpful,” she said. “It’s just good to do something for the community, since you’re part of it.”

Kara Edmonds, director of Dimmick Memorial Library, said Friedman is currently the library’s longest standing volunteer; she has been at the library longer than some of its staff. But each one of the Dimmick’s eight volunteers, Edmonds added, are vital to caring for its extensive and precious collection.

“We have so many items that without the dedication and the regularity of the volunteers, things would be so out of order and so far from neat that it would be difficult to actually use the collection,” Edmonds said.

“It’s actually one of the most important things that we have, is the ability to find what is needed and make sure that it has a nice long life while it is in the collection, and our volunteers help us to ensure that is the case.”