Elizabeth Gibson, an acupuncture therapist, places needles July 31 carefully into the face of her son, Fae Gibson, at her new business, Simple Balance, on East Jefferson Street, Butler. Gibson was a librarian for 20 years before retiring and studying alternative medicine.

In 2004, after 20 years as a librarian, Betsy Gibson decided it was time to take her life in a new direction.

The direction she went has resulted in some balance in her life — Simple Balance, that is, the name of her business at 318 E. Jefferson St., where she offers acupuncture therapy.

Opened this year, it includes Gibson's son, Fae Gibson, who offers massage therapy at the store, while Alicia Ferguson serves as a Pilates instructor.

Gibson said she began her librarian career in 1984, moving to Butler in 1988, where she eventually became the director of the Butler Area Library on McKean Street.

But then she retired and started back to school. This time it was at the American Institute of Alternative Medicine in Columbus, Ohio.

"I decided to study acupuncture after I had a rotator cuff injury in the 1990s," Gibson said, explaining that after trying regular medicine and ending up with shoulder pain, she tried acupuncture, which relieved her pain and helped her injury heal.

Part of Gibson's schooling sent her to China to study acupuncture in a society where people regularly get acupuncture therapy, sometimes daily.

"I ask my patients to at least give the treatment about four weeks before deciding whether it is helping as acupuncture is a subtle and gradual healing," she said.

The western world is coming around to the benefits of this ancient, eastern therapy, Gibson said, pointing to the World Health Organization's recommendation of acupuncture treatment for back pain and the coverage by certain insurance companies.

Gibson is certified to practice acupuncture.

"This is a regulated therapy that doesn't cost a lot. It is something I wanted to study for a long time," she said.