Name of Library: Mansfield/Richland County Public Library (www.mrcpl.org)
What kind of librarian are you? I am a Children’s Librarian.
How long have you been a librarian? I have been a librarian for 8 years, but it doesn’t feel that long (boy how time flies)!
What lead you to wanting to be a librarian? I have always had a love of reading (when I was a little kid, I would go home with 50 books at once). I can’t tell you how many books I’ve read in my life, but it’s a lot. I also love to help people. I found this out in college that I liked to help my friends find research for projects they had to write. Then it grew from there. When my advisor (guidance counselor) and I talked one day about what I was going to do after college, he mentioned that I would make a really good Academic (College) Librarian. I started library school, and found out that as much as I like research, I preferred working with children. Long story short, I get to do the two things I love the most: help people and talk about children’s books!!!
How do you pick books for your library? I don’t pick books for my library, we have a very special team of librarians that do that. But, I have picked books for other libraries I used to work for. Here is how I would choose books: there are special magazines just for librarians that have book reviews in them that helped me decide what books I wanted to buy, I also liked to look at blogs about books to see what other people were reading, and I talked to people (parents and children) to see what kind of books they loved. I still like to do all of these things even if I don’t pick out books for my library anymore!
Do you have a favorite author? Oh, this is such a hard question… I have so many favorites. I guess if I have to pick just one, it would be Herve Tullet. I love the pictures he draws for his books and I love that he makes his books a game! My favorite book by him is Press Here.
How do you decide what book to recommend to a specific kid? I like to talk to the kid and see what kind of books he/she likes and what he/she has read recently.