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Interview with a Librarian
Arianne Azar-Carey
IRLS 504
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Interview with a Librarian
Every Tuesday evening my family heads over to the Nanini Library on Shannon, for the
children’s story time at 6:30 P.M. Mr. Eddie, the librarian who runs and presents the children’s
hour routinely reads books, sings songs and engages the regular group of 30 plus visitors. Mr.
Eddie is a gifted and highly entertaining performer, who has worked tirelessly at developing a
class one children’s hour. I was a bit disappointed to find out that he was not a librarian but an
accountant, who had worked his way up to his present position. Mr. Eddie kindly introduced me
to the head librarian or manager of this library branch, Mrs. Christy. This paper is based on the
one hour interview with Christy.
Responsibilities (what the interviewee does)
Christy has had progressive management experience with the Tucson Public Library
system for the past twenty years. Just prior to our meeting, Christy was typing up the agenda for
the monthly Librarian meeting, where all of Tucson’s 27 Library managers meet. Here they
discuss issues pertaining to how to keep the library services consistent across all the Tucson
Public Library system. The librarians meet to perform a coordinated planning, program
development, implementation and evaluation. Issues on the upcoming meeting include the
legislative issues affecting libraries, such as the Senate Bill 1420.
The Tucson-Pima Public Library multi-site system has ongoing programs, activities and
fund raising events. Tucson is the 13th fastest growing cities in the US with and estimated
population of 515,000. It is estimated to have a population of one million by the year 2010.
Christy is the chair person for the upcoming meeting and she is going to focus on the upcoming
census and how libraries can be a place where citizens can turn to for answers to their questions.
Some of the statistics which the census bureau will release in its yearly report may include how
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poverty has increased while household incomes have decreased along with related health
insurance coverage for calendar year 2007.
Another matter many of the librarians will discuss is how shared collection of library
books is actually working out. The Pima county library system only has a total of three drivers
that deliver and pick up books between all their libraries. In order to be more effective the
system initiated this shared collection project. This means that where ever in the county a book
is returned, then that is where the book will be shelved, consequently it will not return to its
library of origin. This creates a small problem for librarians ordering certain high demand books
for their local students. Schools will have certain projects that require specific books to be read
by their students. The librarian will then order multiple copies of these required books, however
with the shared collection endeavor; the books might end up in a different location when these
students are required to read them. This can be frustrating for the librarian who likes to have a
smoothly operating system.
Issues
When the Pima county public library went from being funded in part by the city and in
part by the county, to being funded solely by the county there were some changes. At the time of
the change a new Deputy Library director, Melody Ballard was hired from Las Vegas. The new
director had a very different communication style, which created for a big turn over in the
system. The director, who came from a rich county funded by casino money, did not anticipate
the coming recession. Under the hiring freeze of the past few years, many of the librarians were
not replaced and libraries have still had the same amount of demands put upon them as in the
past.
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Christy mentioned how many library visitors complain about there not being enough
services. She points out that as more and more services are made available, the more the staff is
stretched. The more visitors to the library, the more book messes are left on the tables, the
messier the bathrooms get, the more dirt that gets tracked into the library and the filthier the
parking lot gets. It is up to the librarians to not only take care of the library but all the extra
housekeeping as well.
We also discussed the impact technology, and she has seen a turnaround in the past
couple of years. It used to be that the students coming in to do homework would ask for the use
of the internet. Now, teachers are requiring that students site not only one web page, but also
several books and articles. Many people do not know how to use the computer, and if they can’t
read well or speak the language fluently, or type, then the technology can be a bit daunting. With
the recessions, many individuals found they could not afford to pay for the internet, so they found
themselves coming back to the library. The library has set up help workshops in the areas of
resume writing and job related information services.
Christy has also set up an emerging technology committee, which keeps the librarians and
the library current with all the new trends, such as twitter for example. Christy evaluates how her
library branch may best deliver services, activities, programs and fund raising events. It is her
priority to be an active partner in community building. She encourages her staff to not only learn
but implement ongoing electronic information technologies that relate to the expansion of her
outreach services. At the Nanini Library, the busiest branch in Tucson, Christy offers a high
quality of information resources and programs which encourage individual growth.
Christy does not believe that technology is a threat, even with the Kindle e-book
computers. Libraries will not go away; rather technology and books will coexist. Many people
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still do not know how to use the library, let alone navigate through countless web pages. The
library has set up web pages listing all the resources which are available either in or through the
library. Christy offers and attends staff workshops that are self paced and cover things like blogs,
face book, twitter, and so forth. She does not believe in dumping all ones’ resources into
something which might then just fizzle up. Her philosophy is to ride it when you need to and let
it go when it is the right time. It is important to stay on top of the new technology and know
what is coming around the corner.
Favorite Job Related Activity
Christy’s passion is connecting with the community, interfacing with people through
helping them find information which might be useful in terms of health, locating work or just
finding a favorite author. She enjoys promoting literacy through providing eight story times a
week, which are geared to children of all ages. The library promoted a summer reading club,
with many prizes for those who completed thirty hours of reading. There is also ‘project lift’,
designed for teen parents which promote literacy through encouraging the development of
reading skills. In the mother read and father read program, trained personnel role model reading
methods to be used when reading to young children. Parents are then given some books with
which to begin a home library. This service is also taken to incarcerated young parents in Pima
County.
Conclusion
A librarian is a busy person, and being the branch manager carries many responsibilities.
The library is open seven days a week and available online 24/7 for e downloads or e checkouts.
As a manager she is responsible for all the business side, which includes budgeting, personnel,
planning and developing activities and programs which promote literacy, raise funds, or provide
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resources for the community. The library is not only a place one can come to when in need for
information, but to place a vote, gain information, or hold a meeting. It is easy to take for
granted what a wonderful resource a library can be to individuals and the community at large.
Finally, how can we have libraries without trained librarians, who log in many hours to make
sure it all runs smoothly.