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[CCBC-Net] Life-changing librarians
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From: Kbshepler at aol.com <Kbshepler>
Date: Thu, 25 May 2006 00:02:00 EDT
In a message dated 5/24/2006 3:09:59 PM Pacific Daylight Time, kmquimby at sover.net writes:
My life-changing librarian was Sue O'Brien. Now here is another thread I can enjoy (when will I ever get back to work?)
My life-changing librarian was quite famous in her right as an author: Gladys Conklin, children's librarian extraordinaire of the Hayward Public Library in California. A little slip of a woman, she was a powerhouse of energy and enthusiasms. She ran a Saturday morning "Bug Club" of which I was a member. She was the first to show me - by doing it - that girls could love bugs, too. We
read books about bugs, drew in journals about bugs, collected bugs. I try today in my own library work to make that vital connection between the "outside
world" and books.
I so clearly remember the day in the 50's when I moved "up" from the children's room to the "Star" section. At a certain age, Mrs. Conklin would put a star on your library card and you could then take books out the oh-so-grown-up
"star" section of the library. It was literally one narrow tall bookshelf with
books all marked on the spine with a "star" in addition to the call number. Heaven forbid if you tried to check out a "star" book without the requisite emblem on your library card. The books were definitely NOT your current YA edgy titles, but I remember how they made me branch out into the world. One book whose title I wish I could reconstruct: it was the cause for a life-long interest in sloths. An autobiography of a man in Central or South America whose house edged on the rain forest. He actually had a sloth in his backyard! Heaven.
Kathy
Kathy Shepler, Librarian Aurora School Oakland, CA
Received on Wed 24 May 2006 11:02:00 PM CDT
Date: Thu, 25 May 2006 00:02:00 EDT
In a message dated 5/24/2006 3:09:59 PM Pacific Daylight Time, kmquimby at sover.net writes:
My life-changing librarian was Sue O'Brien. Now here is another thread I can enjoy (when will I ever get back to work?)
My life-changing librarian was quite famous in her right as an author: Gladys Conklin, children's librarian extraordinaire of the Hayward Public Library in California. A little slip of a woman, she was a powerhouse of energy and enthusiasms. She ran a Saturday morning "Bug Club" of which I was a member. She was the first to show me - by doing it - that girls could love bugs, too. We
read books about bugs, drew in journals about bugs, collected bugs. I try today in my own library work to make that vital connection between the "outside
world" and books.
I so clearly remember the day in the 50's when I moved "up" from the children's room to the "Star" section. At a certain age, Mrs. Conklin would put a star on your library card and you could then take books out the oh-so-grown-up
"star" section of the library. It was literally one narrow tall bookshelf with
books all marked on the spine with a "star" in addition to the call number. Heaven forbid if you tried to check out a "star" book without the requisite emblem on your library card. The books were definitely NOT your current YA edgy titles, but I remember how they made me branch out into the world. One book whose title I wish I could reconstruct: it was the cause for a life-long interest in sloths. An autobiography of a man in Central or South America whose house edged on the rain forest. He actually had a sloth in his backyard! Heaven.
Kathy
Kathy Shepler, Librarian Aurora School Oakland, CA
Received on Wed 24 May 2006 11:02:00 PM CDT
