Interviews

Stephanie Rivera …Children’s Librarian

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

An interview with Stephanie Rivera, Children’s Librarian at Naperville Public Library, Naperville, IL by Chris Hogsett, former Head Editor, INALJ Illinois

Stephanie Rivera …Children’s Librarian

stephanierChristopher: What is your dream job and why?
Stephanie: My dream job in the future is to manage a children’s department of a medium-scale library.

Christopher: If you could take any of your hobbies and create a job out of them or integrate it into your job what would it be? And how?
Stephanie: I really enjoy writing and photography. I think that these hobbies probably lend themselves naturally to the role of a librarian, whether I am taking pictures of a program or writing emails or promotional materials for the library.

Christopher: Favorite library you have been to?
Stephanie: I like the Fountaindale Library (Bolingbrook, IL) because of the way that they’ve fleshed out & organized certain areas of the collection; for instance, putting nonfiction beginning readers next to the fiction beginning readers, instead of shelving these titles within nonfiction. Fountaindale also has an open-space art studio where children can draw and create things without needing to attend a specific program. Decorative clothespins hang on the walls of the studio, so that children can display their artwork if they choose.

Christopher: Favorite book?
Stephanie: Waiting for the Magic by Patricia MacLachlan.

Christopher: Favorite thing about libraries/ library technology?
Stephanie: My favorite thing about libraries is that we are always evolving to meet the need of our patrons. I love that libraries think outside of the box – lending tools, seeds, baking items, e-readers, and more. It’s a great profession when you’re constantly learning new things.

Christopher: Best piece of job hunting advice?
Stephanie: Apply to every job or library that interests you. Your first job may not be your dream job, but it will teach you valuable job skills and may even get you a foot in the door.

Naomi House

Naomi House, MLIS, is the founder and publisher of the popular webzine and jobs list INALJ.com (formerly I Need a Library Job) and former CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of T160K.org, a crowdfunding platform focused on African patrimony, heritage and cultural projects. INALJ was founded in October 2010 with the assistance of her fellow Rutgers classmate, Elizabeth Leonard. Its social media presence has grown to include Facebook (retired in 2016), Twitter and a LinkedIn group, in addition to the interviews, articles and jobs found on INALJ. INALJ has had over 21 Million page hits and helped many, many thousands of librarians find employment! Through grassroots marketing, word of mouth and a real focus on exploring unconventional resources for job leads, INALJ grew from a subscription base of 20 friends to a website with over 500,000 visits in one month. Naomi believes that well-sourced quantity is quality in this narrow job market and INALJ reflects this with many new jobs published daily. She has also written for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 LexisNexis Government Info Pro and many other publications in the past decade. She presents whenever she can, including serving on three panels at the American Library Association's Annual Conference in Las Vegas; as breakout presenter at OCLC EMEA in Cape Town, South Africa; as a keynote speaker at the Virginia Library Association annual meeting; at the National Press Club in Washington DC; McGill University in Montreal, Canada; the University of the Emirates, Dubai, MLIS program and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Naomi was a Reference, Marketing and Acquisitions Librarian for a contractor at a federal library outside Washington, DC, and has been living and working in Budapest, Hungary and Western New York State. She spent years running her husband’s moving labor website, fixed and sold old houses and assisted her husband cooking delicious Pakistani food. She is preparing to re-enter the workforce and is job hunting. Her husband is now the co-editor of INALJ, a true support!  She has heard of spare time but hasn’t encountered it lately. She pronounces INALJ as eye-na-elle-jay. 

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