This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions

My interview with success story Lessa

Naomi: How did you find your current job?
Lessa: I originally saw the job posted on the CALIX listserv and then saw it posted again on the INALJ Daily Digest. The application was interesting because it had to be turned in completely via snail mail. No electronic copies would be accepted. The process was fairly quick, only taking about 2 months from the time I mailed in the application to my verbal job offer.

Naomi: Favorite library you have been to?
Lessa: Seattle Public Library was very magical for me. Their Children’s Room is something to envy with all of the cool furniture, computers, and new-looking collection. I was in heaven!

Naomi: Favorite book?
Lessa: Picking just one is hard for me to do, but The Giver by Lois Lowry is probably the most influential book on my life, having read it for the first time in seventh grade and multiple times thereafter. I would also have to cite Sherman Alexie’s collection of poetry, First Indian On the Moon, as one of my favorites and the most influential book on my adult life.

Naomi: Favorite thing about libraries/ library technology?
Lessa: I never have two days that are the same and everyday is a new adventure!

Naomi: Any websites or feeds or blogs we should be following?
Lessa: My blog, of course, at http://lessalibrarian.wordpress.com. Another of my favorites is author Grace Lin’s blog, Grace Notes and What Happens in Storytime Stays in Storytime by Mollie Kay

Naomi: Best piece of job hunting advice?
Lessa: Don’t give up and subscribe to as many different job mailers as you can. Sometimes the reminders of the same jobs over and over are good ones so that when you’re feeling frustrated you don’t just ignore any possibilities.

Lessa is a Children’s Librarian who received her MLIS from UCLA in 2009. She started off wanting to be an Elementary School teacher, but after two days of credential classes realized that being a Children’s Librarian is a lot more fun. She has worked for four different library systems including County of Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles Public Library, and most recently worked part-time as a Young Reader’s Librarian for Palos Verdes Library District and a part-time Teen Librarian for Redondo Beach Public Library. Lessa will be starting her first full-time Librarian job at Glendale Public Library in May 2012. In addition to being a Children’s Librarian, Lessa is active in the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association and acts as their Executive Board Secretary and Committee Chair for the Family Literacy Focus committee which is in charge of the Family Literacy program, Talk Story: Sharing stories, sharing culture.

previously entitled Lessa Pelayo-Lozada …In Six and published in 5/7/12