Sarah Keller …In Six

My interview with success story, Sarah

Naomi: How did you find your current job?
Sarah: I found my current job through a combination of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners job listings http://mblc.state.ma.us/jobs/index.php and indeed.com. But I was going http://inalj.com a variety of RSS feeds, and going to various town/library/school websites to make sure I hadn’t missed anything!

Naomi: Favorite library you have been to?
Sarah: Do I have to pick one? The Bodleian Library at Cambridge University is historically glorious. But I have give some love to Homer Babbige Library at the University of Connecticut (Great Hidden Nooks with views) & NYU’s Bobst Library (Best Floor & Entrance). But there are dozens that have their own charms and wonders.

Naomi: Favorite book?
Sarah: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, it’s the first book I remember reading multiple times in elementary school, and I re-read it yearly. I keep going back to it because of the diversity in the female characters. Otherwise I have a 3 way-tie between The Great Gatsby, Fables (Graphic Novels) and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, but am open to any usurpers.

Naomi: Favorite thing about libraries/ library technology?
Sarah: There is always something new, but the older skills (card catalogs or microfiche readers anyone?) are never fully gone. You become very flexible between mediums, which will help you explain newer things to patrons.

Naomi: Any websites or feeds or blogs we should be following?
Sarah: All of these bring me joy. I love boingboing.net, gives me loads of ideas/suggestions. mentalfloss.com has provided me with strange and useful information. http://libetiquette.blogspot.com/ is also great, and http://librarianproblems.tumblr.com/ is hilarious.

Naomi: Best piece of job hunting advice?
Sarah: Patience, Perseverance, Soap.

As an avid reader, I have always been surrounded by books and people who love them. I earned my B.A at the University of Connecticut in History, where I had a diverse curriculum of classes. I had the opportunity to work on an archeological dig in Guatemala, and later helped update the sponsoring museums catalogue/database, which really got me interested in how I could do this for my career.  I enrolled at Long Island University for my M.L.I.S, where I took classes on Rare Books/Special Collections, and did an internship at Columbia University’s Rare Books Library. While at LIU, I volunteered at the Wilton Library Association, where I later worked as a Circulation Assistant; and I also worked as a substitute Reference Librarian at the Norwalk Public Library. More recently I’ve worked at Northern Essex Community College as a Library Assistant and volunteered at the Lawrence Historical Society both in Lawrence, MA. Currently, I am a Librarian at Bishop Fenwick High School, in Peabody, MA.