MENASHA, Wis. — Pages at a time, Tylar Marple watches books come together at Lakeside Book Co. in Menasha.
“It’s pretty rewarding. You get to see progress in what you’re doing,” he said. “You’ll get a job ticket, so it’s all one book. You’ll see different segments of the book as it all comes together towards the end. If you really want to pay attention, you can kind of piece it all together in your head.”
Marple has worked at Lakeside for the past year and a half. He described the work environment as team-orientated.
“The whole thing is you get a team set to each press,” Marple said. “You’ll be assigned a home press and every day you’ll be meeting the same people and working with them, eventually to the point you don’t even talk, you just know what each other needs.”
Lakeside is seeking people to fill about 20 positions ranging from printing and binding positions to forklift operators. It’s also looking for electricians and millwrights. Books printed in Menasha are found across the nation.
“Our books are anywhere from kindergarten all the way through grade 12,” said Nicole Foate, who manages human resources. “You’ve probably seen it, touched it. Your children, your grandchildren, we’ve probably touched and affected throughout the industry here.”
Lakeside has 17 manufacturing facilities in North America. For Gary Rhodes, vice president of manufacturing in Menasha, the job is about more than making books.
“Whether we are producing books for the government or doctors or nurses or for airline pilots, what we do here at Lakeside Book Company is very important,” he said. “That gives our employees a tremendous sense of pride in what they do every day.”
Aleyamma Lowe has worked at Lakeside for 21 years. As one of the company’s trainers, she said she’s seen the workforce become more diverse over the past two decades.
“When I train new people, I just love having people of all different races and cultures. I can teach them what I know, make sure they understand it, because I’ve been there,” she said. “The diversity is huge, and it just makes me feel happy that we have people of all different races coming here and working.”
Marple said knowing the books are being used for education brings a sense of satisfaction to the job.
“You feel like you’re doing something actually worthwhile and contributing to other people’s betterment and education, which makes it feel a bit more rewarding,” he said.
Information about careers at Lakeside Book Co. can be found here.