Beginnings
In my working life, I was a library paraprofessional working mostly in public libraries. You meet all walks of life in libraries; anyone from moms bringing in their kids to storytime to college students needing research help. I’ve done it all; created and run kids and teens programs to doing better research than the librarian hired for the job in a community college.
Let’s start at the beginning;
Basic; I’m a reader, have been all my life. In fact, my mom got a bit mad at my 2nd grade teacher because she blamed him for sparking my interest to the point where I isolated myself all the time with a book. To be honest, I think he just revealed the hermit in me. Trust me, the hermit doesn’t hide all that well.
When we moved from the suburbs of Long Island NY to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, one of the first things I did was find two places; the hospital and the library.
My kids were young; 4 years and 6 months so most of the books I got were for me. Kids in bed, I’d sit in a comfy chair and read for several hours. After living in Virginia for a few years, we added a new child and some goats. And I started bringing the kids to more programs.
The library was looking for volunteers when my youngest was about a year old so I signed up. After a few months of shelving, learning the circulation desk and computer program, I was asked if I wanted to apply for a new part time paid position. Getting paid for doing something I love??? Sign me up.
The hours were two evenings and Sunday afternoons. Easy timeline for a mom with kids. My friends all nodded and said “That’s the job for her.” I haven’t looked back.
