Chapter 16, Summer 2021
OPEN BOOK The Boulder Public Library Staff Newsletter
In This Issue 2 A Message from Monnie 3 Lowering Our Masks 7 Library Limelight: Gina Scioscia 10 New Faces at BPL 12 L-Team Shares 13 Volunteer Spotlight: Miriam Murcutt 15 Stats from the Stacks 16 Library Subs Return 20 Picture This: Pride 2021 21 EDI Column: Cultural Norms 24 Fun Facts: Library IT 25 Carnegie Cache: Latinx (Part 2) 28 Artists' Corner: A Collaboration 29 Staff Spotlight: Kathy Janosko 32 Signs of the Times: Reopening 33 In A Past Life: Neel and Hope
The greater the storm, the brighter the rainbow. -unknown
All Open Book content is part of the public record.
Chapter 16, Summer 2021 A Message from Monnie Monnie Nilsson, Editor
My New Favorite "F Word" Congratulations, BPL, on making it through the wackiest year in memory. BPL survived, and we are back in big ways: serving our public in person, our core services are intact, and all locations are now activated in some capacity. Wow! This "survival" has gotten me to thinking about some new core competencies we've developed since the onset of the COVID pandemic. The biggest and most central one leads me to my new favorite "F word": Flexibility. (Some of you have heard me parrot my husband when speaking about disaster planning, "Gotta stay FEMA flexible!") It's become apparent to me in this ever-changing world that the need for perpetual flexibility and a continual growth mindset—what some software developers refer to as "permanent beta"—is here to stay. Working in this environment isn't always easy. Things are constantly changing and we need to be adaptable and grow. This certainly isn't a new concept, but this past year has highlighted the need to be adaptable in the extreme, and to try to view change positively along the way. We've learned that circumstances can change quickly and in wildly unforeseen ways. It seems to me that we are now in a permanent state of "development," and that being able to build and maintain a mindset and aptitude that support thriving through upheaval is now a core competency. Even when not in a pandemic, we are continually adapting to new software, programming goals, budgetary requirements, and environmental, cultural and community needs. So focusing on building and maintaining the skillset and affirmative mindset to thrive in this "permanent beta" state is a core competency goal of mine for 2021 and beyond—I like to think of it as a different kind of "core exercise" to work on. From an organizational perspective, flexibility, growthorientation and thriving through upheaval depend at least partially on supportive and adaptable team environments. We are stronger when we know each other well. In that vein, Open Book continues to highlight various members of the BPL teamour team of invaluable library substitutes, and other BPL staff and their endeavors. Thanks for reading. Stay flexible, team. Namaste!
Flexibility is the key to stability. -John Wooden
Open Book Team Katherine Bertone Christine Burke Nicole Docimo Louise Fordyce Julian Ingram
Hannah Lackoff Jennifer Lord Monnie Nilsson Aimee Schumm Jan Wade Aspen Walker 2
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Lowering Our Masks Jan Wade We just might ALMOST be there—back to a place where we don’t wear masks, where we can hug someone, go freely about out lives without the planning necessary during a pandemic. There is something that we might not realize yet, and it is this: WE are now the unwilling participants, the survivors, the Storytellers. We will tell and retell our experiences to people too young to remember and those not yet born. They will want to know a lot of things. They will want to ask us many questions. Some of those questions might be painful, but they will expect us to answer honestly and not mind that the questions are too direct. Some of us will make these stories entertaining. As more time passes for us, we might make some of our stories funny and make our audience laugh. It is important that we tell this big story we all shared and the uniqueness that was our individual experience. WE have to tell this story because it is unbelievable yet true and we are the only ones that can.
I think it will be hard to know the moment when I can fully put the masks away (and my kids have been so healthy the past year, I seriously wonder if we should wear them every winter!). I still fear that the whole thing is not coming to an end. I will probably keep them for a while just in case. - Nicole D. I’m going to keep wearing masks when I think they’re helpful. Last weekend my friend’s toddler had a nasty head cold so I wore a mask while inside around them and never got sick. In “before” times it was not uncommon for me to get a cold after flying/being in airports. I think moving forward, I’ll likely wear masks when flying. I think I’ll also wear one if I do get sick, to limit spread to anybody else. - Christine B. My masks are flannel and they are SO soft. I was thinking about making slippers, a bra, maybe doubling them up and making potholders…the possibilities are endless. - Jan W.
What will you do with your masks when we can really never wear them again? We are going to burn them in our outside fire pit and roast marshmallows with the flames. - Aimee S. I don't think I'll ever truly get rid of my mask. I will likely wear it in indoor public spaces for a while where unmasked people go. Also, I plan on wearing my mask when I need to go out of my house but don't feel 100% for the near future. - Ruth S. 3
Chapter 16, Summer 2021 Where is the first INSIDE public place you went without your mask? We haven’t been anywhere yet w/o a mask. - Aimee S. My mother-in-law's house. It was weird! - Ruth S.
I have not gone to an inside public place without a mask yet, and honestly it’s hard to imagine. I will probably be wearing mine for a while. I am incredibly relieved to be able to go trail running and jogging without a mask! - Nicole D. I still haven’t gone to a public place inside without a mask. - Christine B. A carpet store. I asked if masks were mandatory and they said no. Then the one guy that helped me said he had not been vaccinated—so back on went the mask!! I had my unmasked moment for about 10 seconds - Jan W.
When you retell the story of the pandemic, what will you say was the silver lining for you? The amazing time we had as a family being together. We traveled in our RV, played games, had nerf gun battles in the backyard, walked around the neighborhood A LOT, put together dozens of puzzles, adopted a puppy and adopted our daughter. Oddly enough, we saw more of our extended family because of the Sunday Zoom calls with family. - Aimee S. The silver lining was getting to spend more time as a family with my husband and two daughters - Ruth S.
masks not required if vaccinated
Last spring when I was on furlough I spent so much time outdoors—with my kids on little hikes and in our backyard and in my vegetable garden. I grew a killer garden in 2020! At work, the silver lining has definitely been the opportunity for very big creativity—new solutions, new collaborations, and new ideas to figure out how to go forward. - Nicole D. 4
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Silver linings—because of the pandemic, I ended up moving out of an apartment in Boulder to a rural mountain valley outside of Lyons. If it hadn’t been for the pandemic, I likely wouldn’t have ended up living out there. I am so, so grateful for the peace and quiet and beauty of my months there. I also starting video calls with friends and family more regularly, which was wonderful. - Christine B.
Time!! My husband and I spent a lot of wonderful time together. I also got to learn what a difference I can make in someone’s life that is under so much stress and experiencing sadness. And I learned to do it on the phone in the remote call center. - Jan W.
When you retell the story of the pandemic, what will you say was the hardest part for you?
The hardest part for me was the uncertainty. With two young kids, there was so much uncertainty about when and if they would go to school, not to mention pondering the seriousness of a runny nose. Things just kept shifting and changing and on any given week I just wondered if we would make it through without a problem. Last spring there was also great uncertainty for me at work as I wondered if/when I would be called back from furlough. - Nicole D.
Loneliness, distance from my friends and family (I had moved to Colorado from South Carolina 3 weeks before everything shut down and hadn’t made a single friend), navigating living with my boyfriend in a 200 square foot RV for 9 months! 😃 - Christine B.
Figuring out how to do almost everything without leaving my home. It was hard to find ways to keep in touch with kids and grandkids, too. I missed the freedom of just going somewhere. - Jan W.
Not being able to see my parents. They are older and my mom’s health isn’t great so we all kept our distance until we were vaccinated. - Aimee S. The hardest part was not being able to see my elderly parents who live on the east coast and not be able to hold/squeeze/love my new nephew, who will be 10 months old when I finally get to see him. - Ruth S. 5
Chapter 16, Summer 2021 Who will be the first person not in your immediate family you will hug as soon as you feel it is safe to do so? Have you already hugged that someone? My parents and we HAVE hugged. 😊 - Aimee S. Yes! I hugged my dear friend, also my neighbor, as soon as I could. - Ruth S. I will hug my mom and dad in a couple of weeks when they come to visit for the first time since the pandemic started. They live over near Aspen, and I have only seen them a couple of very brief times during the past year and a half. - Nicole D. My best friend in South Carolina! I got to hug her a few weeks ago when I visited. - Christine B.
I DID hug someone—my friend Amber when she came from Georgia to take care of her farm here in Erie. We were both vaccinated but we still held our breath! Funny! - Jan W.
What lesson(s) did COVID teach you? We can get through anything. I saw a sign in someone’s yard early in the pandemic that said “This too shall pass." It became our mantra. - Aimee S. The lesson I learned from all of this is that I am more resilient than I think I am. We'll see how things go for me after all of this settles. - Ruth S. COVID for me has been a constant lesson in flexibility and taking things as they come. While I can’t say I’ve actually learned the lessons, I keep trying. - Nicole D. So many personal and larger lessons—a few are: slow down, pay attention, find out the friends that matter the most, taking precautions is worth it for the common good. - Christine B. I learned that people are the most important part of my life...and cows aren’t bad either. The people in my life, my dog and my cows make everything bearable. - Jan W. 6
Chapter 16, Summer 2021
Library Limelight: Gina Scioscia Monnie Nilsson
What type of work did you do prior to your years at BPL? I’ve mostly worked in bookselling. As a teen, I worked in my parents' bookstore, later in my college bookstore and several corporate bookstores. My husband and I owned a used bookstore for many years. We even had a bookmobile! I had a brief stint as a Montessori teacher and café manager, but mostly selfemployed.
Gina at her workshop getting ready to rough sand the orrery bases. Photo courtesy of Gina Scioscia
How long have you worked at the Boulder Public Library? What positions have you held at BPL, and how did you come to work here? I’ve worked here since September 2001, 20 years this September. I started as a Reference Specialist in the Reference department with 15 other staff. I also held an interim systems administrator position in 2012 for just over a year while they were hiring that position and loved that. That same year I was hired as Librarian II to manage electronic database subscriptions. After the re-organization several years ago, I began managing the eCollections (OverDrive, hoopla and Kanopy) and periodicals. I came to the library happenstance, looking for work to supplement our family business. When I saw the job description for the Reference Specialist, it really appealed to me, and I absolutely fell in love with it and working for BPL.
Can you give us a brief rundown of what your daily, monthly, quarterly tasks and your typical workday generally consist of? A lot of time is spent ordering for our OverDrive collection each week. Keeping abreast of new titles, and trying to manage the ever-growing hold lists. I buy fiction, nonfiction and juvenile titles for OverDrive. I troubleshoot database issues when they crop up, or particularly thorny eCollection problems. I also do quarterly statistics for our programs, circulation of physical and electronic materials, door counts etc. These come from a lot of diverse platforms like LibCal, Sierra, multiple database and ecollection platforms, and I standardized these for the director’s quarterly report. Monthly, I run weeding reports, missing, in transit, and claims 7
Chapter 16, Summer 2021 returns according to a maintenance schedule (in normal times anyway, it’s been a bit uneven of late with our closures/re-opening). I still love getting into the stacks and actually handling the books. Annually, with my supervisor, I handle the renewal of legal contracts for our databases, periodical renewals, onboarding any new vendors, and compiling the State report survey with Kathy J. Can you share some of the most/more satisfying experiences you've had at work in the library? Mostly I love working with my colleagues and serving patrons. Even though it’s sometimes challenging, it is more oftentimes rewarding. The times when you feel you’ve truly helped someone, those moments carry more weight than the hundreds of daily irritations. I love the Research Rendezvous program that I started several years ago. It is very satisfying in many ways: You are helping students learn research skills—teaching them to fish so to speak—but you also are learning so much history. It’s amazing what students choose for their topics and how they approach it. It’s a lot of fun, plus you get to meet teachers, parents and CU faculty, and librarians from the region. One of the highest compliments came from DPL librarian who burst into the break room and exclaimed, “This is so much fun! I want to work at BPL!”
Can you share the most bizarre or funny experience you’ve had at work in the library? Omg. Well, the library is really free for all, isn’t it? There’s a book about that, but I haven’t gotten around to reading it. Something I still remember: I had a patron ask me to research a place name in Turkey (so she thought), we researched it quite a bit, but I kept coming up empty with the name she provided. Even historical records didn’t yield any info. I finally got around to asking her where she had first heard of this place and why she thought it originated in Turkey. She then explained that her “psychic counselor’ had suggested that she had lived a past life there. Of course, I kept a straight face and didn’t fall off my chair.
If you didn't work at the library what would your "pie-in-the-sky" dream job be? That’s a tough one, especially for someone approaching retirement! I think I would have liked to be a medical researcher, trying to cure childhood cancer or disease. 8
Chapter 16, Summer 2021 Can you tell us about your hobbies outside of work?
What type/genre of books do you gravitate to? What do you avoid? I mostly read non-fiction, history and science and I love essays on a variety of topics. There is something about the short snippets of thoughtful writing that appeals to me. Probably because my attention span is faltering as I get older! I used to read a lot of mysteries and true crime, just haven’t picked them up in a number of years. I avoid YA , sci-fi/fantasy and romance. Are there some childhood books and authors who stick with you? I remember reading Steinbeck a lot in middle school and loving those books. I also loved the short stories of O. Henry, Saki and Guy De Maupassant; I couldn’t resist the twists of fate! Of course, I grew up on Beverly Clearly, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Donald J. Sobol, E.B. White, Norman Juster. Am I dating myself? And just to be honest, I also loved reading many of the comics at my parents' bookstore. There’s a photo of my sister and me, chins cupped in our palms, elbows on the counter, reading comics, probably Archie or something equally inane. What’s your kids’ or partner’s favorite nickname for you? I don’t think I ever had a nickname, although my grandson now calls me “Granna”! Does that count?
Hobbies, what’s a hobby? I spend my "free time” helping in our family business, doing the bookkeeping, taxes, administrative tasks as well as whatever needs to be done, polishing brass, sanding wood, or organizing the workshop! I really have had two jobs these past 20 years! I suppose if I had time for a hobby, I would take up bird-watching. I live near wetlands and have seen and heard intriguing silhouettes and songs. I’d love to know what’s going on in the skies above me! Tell us one thing about yourself that might surprise us. I don’t think there are any surprises in my life! Our family business is making orreries—an orrery is a mechanical model of the solar system, around since the 1700s, and my husband and I are one of only about 3-4 orrery makers in the world who create and sell models to customers and museums around the world. How has the pandemic changed your work? It made me realize that people need to connect socially and that there is a real fatigue with doing everything online. I’m a mostly solitary individual, but I realize that being disconnected from patrons and colleagues on a daily basis is really hard. There is a vitality of life that stems from social interaction, and thinking about my primary role as a digital resource provider, I’m rethinking priorities this year. We did get a nice compliment from a parent who used OverDrive a lot for remote learning, and so I want to be mindful of how to balance our digital content and subscriptions to truly meet the community 9 needs.
NEW S E C FA QUETZALLI C ORTEZ . at Meadows t s li ia c e p S ranch ns nd I am a B a z e rt cs) and mea o C te i z ll A a e tz e th u y Q b oken My name is the Quetzal language sp n e o h r (t e tl th a a u fe h t a N longes My name is ignifies the s o ls a It l. autifu precious/be y; bird. gree last Ma e d IS L M y with m Denver but n University a in ic p u in m w o re D g I from tion! is in I graduated e my gradua c in s b jo ate degree u ry d ra ra b li rg t e d rs n fi My u this is my in Chicago. rs a e y ix s t s spent the la English. nly book e; it is the o d tu li o S f o Years ne Hundred O excitement. is k m o o o fr b ir te a ri h o c v y My fa t of m me jump ou e d a m y ll ra live that lite till alive and s re a m o h all of w rents h four cats, it w p ently, my pa u rr u w C re g t. I s ! u g ls u a 17 in A at I love anim I suspect th ldest will be . o y e rk h a T p . S ts r n e box with my pare one-year-old y m g n ti n re or my mom. -pa e m 't n is it d and I are co nt, an favorite pare a s a h y rk a Sp u! eet all of yo m to d n a re work he I'm excited to
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ALYSSA FINER Super excited to be ba ck at the library. I wor ked as a sub Specialis and now I love being t for two years part of the Meadows Branch staff. Plus, bi North Boulder to the king to work from Meadows Branch is he lping me stay in shap e. For the past four year s, I have been the W ednesday morning Bo volunteer CIEL facilit ulder Reads ator, and it was much smoother than I expe Zoom classes during cted to transition to the pandemic. In my past life, I prac ticed law in New York City and then Californ constantly for years, ia. I also wrote although it seems I ha ve ta ke n a ve short stories. ry long hiatus from w riting Like so many of us, I love to read and cann ot wait to discover wha the next book. With au t I will learn from diobooks now added to th e m ix, I feel like we live in amazing time where such an the learning never st op s. In 2012, I started keepin books I read and it m g a list of the akes me happy to look back and see where and how that list of bo I was in the past oks has grown so long and eclectic. We have lived in Boul der for the past twen ty years and it has be place to raise our son en a wonderful and take advantage of al l th e ou tdoor activities in ever season. We love dogs y but with our son’s alle rg ie s, for the past ten years taken care of bearde we have d dragons. And now that our son is away still caring for his cres at college, we are ted gecko and thinking ag ai n ab ou family. t adding a dog to our 11
Chapter 16, Summer 2021
L-Team Shares: A round-up of news and information from the Library Leadership Team. Aspen Walker
Security Denver Metro Protective Services (DMPS) takes over as the full-time security provider for the Main Library on Tuesday, June 1st. The change is expected to provide us with more consistent coverage and fewer days with no onsite security. One Book, One Boulder 2021 Timing
Library District On May 18th, City Council voted unanimously to take the issue of a Library District to the voters in 2022. Questions about campaign practices and what you can/can’t do or say regarding this 2022 ballot issue? Please see David’s 5/24/21 email, check out the city’s policy on participating in elections campaigns, or reach out to David and Aspen with your questions. See Funding our Library Future for ongoing updates. More information and training will be offered as we gear up for the November 2022 election. Library Card Art Contest 487 people voted online in our first annual Library Card Art Contest for Adults! The winning designs (two from area adults, three from local youth) will be available as library cards beginning June 1st, as part of the Summer of Discovery kick-off.
Wondering why this year’s title for OBOB is not being shouted from the rooftops yet? This year’s selection, All We Can Save edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine Wilkinson, is focused on the climate crisis, and isn’t available as a paperback yet. The library will receive a large paperback order in late July, and we’ll make our announcement in midAugust so our collection is prepared for an abundance of holds. It’s ok to informally share the title with others now. The program will run from mid-August to early November, with the majority of programs taking place in September and October. The final author talk is Thursday, November 4th. More to come!
Notes: JLF Colorado is set for October 8-10. Midday Music Meditation has returned. Learn more! Did you know? 795 folks pre-registered for Summer of Discovery before June 1.
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Chapter 16, Summer 2021
Volunteer Spotlight: Miriam Murcutt Miriam Murcutt, Interviewer for the Maria Rogers Oral History Program. Interview conducted by Cyns Nelson, MROHP Program Coordinator In lieu of asking Miriam to draft replies to questions, I prompted her to reflect on specified topics and then recorded an oral interview. This article gives you snippets of our conversation, pulled from the interview transcript. The entire recording lasted nearly an hour and includes wonderful detail about Miriam’s years in the UK, her travels with spouse Richard Starks, and books they have co-authored: Lost in Tibet, Along the River that Flows Uphill, A Room with a Pew, Greenland for $1.99, and their new novel In a Town Called Paradox.
To listen to Miriam's full interview, click the radio!
Miriam Murcutt; Photo courtesy Miriam Murcutt Upbringing I was raised in southern English cities, in Chichester, in a place called Horsham. I was brought up in pubs, because my father was a licensed victualer. ...That means he was licensed to sell booze, basically (laughing). My twin sisters—I'm not one of the twins, they were twins—and I were brought up by my mother, my father, and my grandmother, who lived with us all of our lives. Transition to U.S. and Boulder
Miriam has been volunteering with the oral history program since 2014. She joined MROHP shortly before I took over as coordinator, and she has conducted thirteen interviews for the oral history archive. Miriam’s British accent and sharp wit make her popular with the oral history cohort; I was keen to learn about her background and arrival in Boulder, along with other topics.
We [Richard and Miriam] had traveled to the U.S. a lot, and we looked for a base that we could run the business from. [They had published a directory, Invest in the UK, which had a sizable distribution in America.]… Richard had read about Boulder and what a good community it was. ...It was really business, then, that brought us to Boulder, but also a love of the mountains, and the setting, and Boulder's reputation as a good place to live. 13
Chapter 16, Summer 2021 [Richard and Miriam came to Boulder in 1991 and began living here full-time in 1997.] CN: What was your impression of Boulder Public Library, at that time, in comparison to what you had experienced prior to? MM: Oh, well, it was very glamorous. The libraries in Britain suffer from severe lack of funds. I was amazed to see popular books, with five copies of them, in the Boulder Library. That, to me, was quite astounding. Volunteering for the Library [Miriam had taken Conversations in Spanish at the library, and she thought about being a tutor for English learners.] Tutoring was very difficult, because I've got an English accent.…I didn't go over well at all with the students. It was quite instructive, actually, because it made me realize that, of course, learning a language and being able to speak the language of the country you're in makes you accepted. So, why would anyone want to say “toe-MAH-toe” in a country where they say “toe-MAY-toe”! …Anyway, it was a good course. And that introduced me to some of the volunteer services at the library. Volunteering for MROHP I was very interested in the preservation of history, through the mouths of ordinary people. … My grandmother lived to be 100—she lived with us all our lives, with our family all our lives—and I didn't ask her nearly enough about her history. … It impressed upon me the value of recording ordinary people's lives. They don't have to be politically correct about the way they interpret
their lives; and they have some detail that, perhaps, historians gloss over in presenting the big picture. … Interviewing struck me as being a good way of getting some involvement with other people when I was leading a rather isolated life, writing novels and things. Basically, also, learning a bit more about Boulder, the history of Boulder. … I do like to get—and HAVE got—a lot out of the oral-history interviewing part of the program, and also meeting with the group, whom I view as being an extremely amusing and lively group of people. Some of the best meetings that I've ever been in, actually. You have a laugh, as well as the serious stuff! … I hadn't realized, until I'd sat in on some of the [oral history] meetings, that of course the way the interviews are preserved is actually more important than the interviews themselves. Of course, you [need] something to preserve…but it's equally important to have something that is transferable into modern technology…in a highly accessible, modern, accessible format. Memorable Interviews [Miriam’s very first interview was with the volunteer fire chief of Four Mile Canyon. His oral history focuses on the Flood of 2013.] It had obviously been traumatic for him, as someone who was meant to rescue people— particularly with the flood—being totally unable to rescue anybody, because the roads were washed out. And he was describing how he had phone calls from children, saying: "My mother is up to her elbows in mud. What are we going to do? What are we going to do?" And he actually broke down, in that interview. And I felt really guilty about this, because I felt I'd forced him into a place he didn't necessarily want to be. 14
Chapter 16, Summer 2021 But he recovered, and the interview continued. But it had a big impact on me, about the way that memories can trigger not necessarily all the good things, but quite a lot of bad things, too. [Miriam helped with a project to document the arrival of hippies in Boulder, and she also interviewed people who worked at IBM.] [Geraldine Thomas] remembered that Boulder residents had been really incensed by the "invasion" of these hippies onto their territories. And this sounds so unlike Boulder, but she said that some of the residents had been distributing fliers which said: "Bring your pitchforks and shovels, and drive these hippies out!" …And then, on another level…was the arrival of IBM in 1965, in Boulder, because that of course marked another real milestone in the development of Boulder as a high-tech center. I did a few of the IBM interviews. One of the narrators was Dean Fogerty, who I think has done a lot of work with the library.
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150 150 DIY wire tree kits were created by Tinker Art (SoBo) and distributed by the library! They flew off the shelves the first weekend they were available.
What Would You Change About the Library? Well, there's only one thing I would change, and that is: I'd like them to start a special section on books in translation. … Books in translation can actually—if they are translated well—add enormously to that true-life experience of not just being in another country, but how people from another country might express themselves. Or, how the story is very wound up in the cultural values of that country. And hopefully, if it's well translated, that comes through. Would You Like to Share a Quote About Your Volunteer Experiences? I suppose, in relation to volunteering, I would say: If volunteering is all about giving, then how come I'm getting so much out of it?
100 AniMAY kits were created and distributed to teens/tweens during the month of May to coincide with 5 events.
235 235 Book Queeries books have been given away to teens since the program's debut in August 2020.
BVSD Art Show Although we didn't have the opportunity to have the BVSD Art Show in 2020, 2021 allowed us to include high school pieces for the first time! 15
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There is No Substitute for Our Library Substitutes! We are so happy to have our trusty subs back in the library. What would we do without them? We thought it would be a great idea to put names with faces for our Sub Team, so we wanted to introduce you to several of them. Below, in alpha order by last name, you will find brief bios and photos for several members of the BPL Sub Team. Some you will recognize, others maybe not. Please stop and say hello when you see them at our various locations! (Note: Photos are courtesy of each substitute; bios were edited for space. And please stay tuned for more sub photos and bios in upcoming Open Book editions.) Cheri Aasmundstad In 2010 I moved to Boulder after retiring from 19 years at St. Paul's Episcopal Day School (Kansas City, MO) as an educator/school librarian. I followed my dream to move out of humidity and into the mountains. I began at BPL as a sub before becoming a part-time Circulation Specialist—then back to being a sub. I love it here!
Lori Batcheller
Lori Batcheller, an avid book lover, is the author of two books and dozens of articles, mostly about yoga, health, and disabilities. She teaches yoga through Boulder Parks and Recreation and is a licensed massage and physical therapist with a private practice in South Boulder. In her free time, she enjoys everything nature has to offer—skiing, hiking, camping, cycling, and traveling to unspoiled places.
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Chapter 16, Summer 2021 Chealsye Bowley Chealsye Bowley comes from a background in academic librarianship and works in open access publishing. She loves being better involved with the Boulder community through substituting at the library. Outside of work, she enjoys baking, canning jam, and making miniatures.
Mary Boyd Mary has been a materials handler, has been part of the Circulation Desk team, has facilitated the popular Tuesday Night Topics lecture series (which featured local authors), and has been a sub since 2016. She worked at BPL from 19851990, then enrolled in the nursing program at CU's School of Nursing, and is currently a labor and delivery nurse. It's been great to connect with some former co-workers, meet new ones, and see how the library has expanded its programming. It's great to be back!
Wendy Hall Wendy Hall used to work at the Carnegie Library, and retired in 2020. She enjoys sewing, quilting, reading and gardening in her spare time.
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Chapter 16, Summer 2021 Tara Kelly I live in Boulder with my husband, Bob. I enjoy gardening, scifi novels, biking around Boulder and listening to my old hippie records.
Anni Magyary My nickname is "Anni Banani", which was also my radio deejay name, a long time ago in Atlanta. But sometimes I get "Banana-Brain", "Banana-Head", "Bananarama" and so on. (Sigh.) I work full-time for CU-Boulder in administration and also write a newsletter for my department, which I REALLY enjoy since I have a journalism degree. Am super excited to be back working at BPL! Wait --> "working"?!? This isn't WORK, this is FUN!
Robin Pope Robin Pope holds an MBA from CU Boulder’s Leeds School of Business and was awarded the Full Time MBA Award in May 2020. She also holds a BA from CU in History and Mathematics. She has now read over 60 books this year, and especially loves reading fantasy. She also enjoys music and photography.
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Chapter 16, Summer 2021 Carla Reardon Carla Reardon, retired library specialist and book nerd; I’ll read anything, but trash fantasy’s a fave. Compulsive recommender. Photo credit: Carla Reardon.
Kathy Rolfes In the past few years, Kathy has worked on and off in various capacities at BPL, which started with volunteering through the Home Delivery Program. Before joining BPL she worked in Oak Park, Illinois as a teacher librarian, and still enjoys subbing as a librarian for BVSD. Photo credit: Kathy Rolfes
Cheryl Runyon Cheryl Runyon is an Illinois native, with degrees in political science, zoology and law. Cheryl moved to Boulder in 1984 and previously worked for the National Conference of State Legislatures, Boulder County Community Justice Services and Boulder County Public Health, along with Boulder Public Library. She has served as a library sub for many years. Cheryl and her husband have one son. Photo credit: Cheryl Runyon 19
Chapter 16, Summer 2021 Anita Stuehler A 50-year Boulder resident, Anita enjoys the area hiking trails and mountains. She also has a longtime interest in genealogy, tracing branches of her family back to the 1500's. She is currently organizing those details into a book. Since retiring from BPL, she has taught citizenship classes to those eligible for U.S citizenship. She enjoyed her time as a BPL employee and looks forward to subbing when possible. Photo credit: Anita Stuehler
Picture This: Happy Pride, Spotted at Out Boulder County's Pride Motorcades!
Photo credit: Out Boulder County
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Examining Cultural Norms to Foster Multicultural Relationships Jennifer Lord “In the end, racial diversity will not be ushered in by pledges, slogans, or wellcompensated czars. ...racial diversity will only be achieved once White America is weaned off a prevailing narrative of racial preeminence—a belief system as intoxicating and addictive, and ultimately destructive, as any opiate." - Pamela Newkirk, Diversity, Inc White supremacy is a heavy term. White supremacy is not just the overt racism of cross burnings and white sheets. It manifests in ways that may be hard to identify, in ways we may not realize, and in ways we may find difficult to acknowledge as white supremacy. Vu Le in the blog Nonprofit AF writes, “These things add up. They make whiteness the default. They keep power concentrated in white leaders and institutions. It makes it easier for injustice against racialized people and communities to take place.” White supremacy culture has been likened to the air we breath, invisible, but something that fully envelopes us. Tema Okun wrote an article outlining The Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture, which are listed here: Perfectionism, Sense of Urgency, Defensiveness, Quantity Over Quality, Worship of the Written Word, Only One Right Way, Paternalism, Either/Or Thinking, Power Hoarding, Fear of Open Conflict, Individualism, Progress is Bigger + More, I’m the Only One,
Objectivity, Right to Comfort. (See chart on page 23.) Initially reading this list, we might not think of these characteristics as part of white supremacy culture. Inherently something that is considered normal or universal is difficult to see. According to Wikipedia, “Norms are shared expectations of acceptable behavior [held] by groups.” Norms are larger than ideas, which are held privately; rather norms are shared social beliefs and behaviors. Because these acceptable behaviors are considered to be the standards of behavior, they often go unexamined and deviance from these norms often becomes suspect. Examining norms then becomes a way to identify power and privilege and to question cultural assumptions. Rather than summarize Okun’s article. I’d like to discuss one of the characteristics of white supremacy culture, and reflect on how it appears in our library and work culture. Perfectionism appears in the workplace when there is little appreciation expressed among colleagues for the work others are doing; where mistakes are personal and considered wrong; where there is more of a tendency to identify what’s wrong, and little ability to identify and appreciate what’s right. While we might lean toward perfectionism when developing a project, I can think of many examples of how our BPL culture aligns with the antidotes to perfectionism. Shout Outs help to create a culture of appreciation. I love that the Teams Shout Out channel goes beyond work-groups, and allows us to celebrate and acknowledge the work of our all incredible staff. The introduction and continued practice of mini-experiments help us to develop a culture of learning, where mistakes are invited and learned from. Miniexperiments support the understanding that 21
Chapter 16, Summer 2021 mistakes sometimes lead to positive results and new and improved processes. A place that I’ve seen perfectionism appear more broadly is in the desire to “get it right” especially in an EDI context. Often times people will say that they fear to say or ask the wrong thing, so do not want to engage with people from a background different than their own. And, when a mistake is made, rather than acknowledging it, apologizing for it and learning from it, people become quick to defend themselves, making the mistake personal and often changing the focus of the interaction to themselves rather than the injured/insulted party. If we think about building relationships rather than being right (or perfect), then a way forward opens. In customer service, we often apologize even if it’s not our fault, and indeed even if the patron is wrong. We do this in attempts to resolve the situation, to salvage the relationship and to work to come into understanding. What if we used this approach in cultural situations where we are wrong or have made a mistake? What would happen if we embraced the power of apology?
name the cultural norms and standards you want is a first step to making room for a truly multi-cultural organization. What if we (socially or as an organization) want to address systemic racism or lack of diversity? We must change our organizational/cultural norms. A big part of change calls for selfreflection. Where are we getting it right, and where are we missing the mark? How can we continue to create a culture of appreciation? How can we continue to welcome and learn from mistakes? How can we change our processes for both efficacy and care?
Reflecting on perfectionism as a cultural and organizational norm prompts further questions. Okun writes, One of the purposes of listing characteristics of white supremacy culture is to point out how organizations which unconsciously use these characteristics as their norms and standards make it difficult, if not impossible, to open the door to other cultural norms and standards. As a result, many of our organizations, while saying we want to be multicultural, really only allow other people and cultures to come in if they adapt or conform to already existing cultural norms. Being able to identify and
Art by Katherine Valde whitesupremacyculture.info
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Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture Adapted from "white supremacy culture" by Tema Okun, dRworks, www.dismantlingracism.org Access the poster-version.
Perfectionism Little appreciation expressed for others' work Criticism more common Criticism of person or their work in their absence even more common Mistakes seen as personal failings ANTIDOTES: Develop a culture of appreciation; develop a learning organization, where it's expected that everyone makes mistakes and those mistakes offer opportunities for learning
Paternalism Decision-making clear to those with power; unclear to those without it Those with power feel capable of making decisions for and in the interests of those without power Those with power don't view as important or necessary understanding the views/experience of those for whom they decide ANTIDOTES: Ensure transparency about decision-making; include people affected by decisions in the process
Progress is Bigger, More Observed in systems of accountability and success measurement Progress is an org that expands (adds staff, projects, etc.) or serves more people (regardless of quality of service) Gives no value, not even negative value, to the costs of this so-called progress ANTIDOTES: Ask how actions today will affect people seven generations from now; ensure that any cost/benefit analysis includes all costs, not just financial ones; ask those you work with and for to evaluate your/org performance
Sense of Urgency Continued sense of little time that undermines inclusivity, and/or democratic and thoughtful decision-making This sacrifices potential allies in favor of quick or highly visible results Reinforced by funding proposals that promise (and funders that expect) too much for too little ANTIDOTES: Realistic workplans; leadership that understands that things take longer than anyone expects; discuss and plan for what it means to set goals of inclusivity and diversity, particularly in terms of time; write realistic funding proposals
Either/Or Thinking Things are either/or, good/bad, right/wrong, with us/against us No sense that things can be both/and Results in oversimplifying complex things Increases sense of urgency that we must do this or that, without time to consider a middle way ANTIDOTES: When people use ‘either/or’ language, push for more than two alternatives; when people simplify complex issues, encourage deeper analysis; with urgent decisions, make sure people have time to think creatively
Objectivity Belief that objectivity is possible That emotions should not play a role in decisionmaking or group processes Requiring people to think in a linear fashion and ignoring those who think in other ways Impatience with any thinking that does not appear logical ANTIDOTES: Realize that everybody’s perspective is shaped by their worldview; realize this means you, too; push yourself to sit with discomfort when people express themselves in ways unfamiliar to you; assume that everybody has a valid point and your job is to understand it
Defensiveness Organization and energy focused on preventing abuse and protecting those in power Criticism of those with power viewed as inappropriate Difficult to raise new or challenging ideas Energy devoted to avoiding hurt feelings and working around defensive people ANTIDOTES: Understand how defensiveness is linked to fear (of losing power, face, comfort, privilege); name defensiveness as a problem when it is one
Power Hoarding Little value around sharing power Those with power feel threatened when change is suggested & experience this as a judgement of them They also assume they have everyone's best interests at heart, and that those wanting change are ill-informed, emotional, or inexperienced ANTIDOTES: Include power-sharing in your org’s values statement; discuss that good leaders develop the power and skills of others; understand that change is inevitable and that challenges to leadership can be productive and healthy
Right to Comfort Belief that those with power have a right to emotional and psychological comfort Scapegoating those who cause discomfort Equating individual acts of unfairness against white people with systemic racism that targets people of color ANTIDOTES: Understand that discomfort is at the root of all growth and learning; don't take everything personally
Quantity Over Quality Measurable things are most valued Little value attached to process Discomfort with emotion and feelings ANTIDOTES: Include process goals in planning; develop a values statement about how work will be done in the organization; develop methods for measuring process; recognize when you need to get off the agenda to address people's feelings and underlying concerns
Fear of Open Conflict People in power try to ignore or run from conflict When someone raises an “issue,” response is to blame that person rather than look at the issue Emphasis on being polite, so raising difficult issues is being impolite, rude, or outof-line ANTIDOTES: Role play ways to handle conflict before it happens; distinguish between politeness and raising hard issues; once a conflict is resolved, reflect on how it was resolved and/or might have been handled differently
Worship of the Written Word Those with strong documentation and writing skills are more highly valued, even in orgs where ability to relate to others is key The org doesn't value other ways in which information gets shared ANTIDOTES: Analyze other ways people get and share information; come up with alternative ways to document what is happening; work to recognize the contributions and skills that every person brings to the organization; make sure anything written can be clearly understood (is jargon-free)
Individualism Little experience or comfort working as part of a team People feel responsible for solving problems alone Accountability goes up and down, not sideways to peers or those whom the organization serves Desire for individual recognition and credit Competition valued over collaboration ANTIDOTES: Include teamwork in your org values statement; make sure that credit is given to all those who participate in an effort, not just the leaders; practice group (not individual) accountability; use meetings to solve problems, not just report activities
Only One Right Way Belief there is one right way to do things and that people will learn and adopt it When they do not, then something is wrong with them ANTIDOTES: Accept that there are many ways to get to the same goal; notice and name behavior when folks/groups push "one right way"; acknowledge you have a lot to learn from community partners' way of doing; be willing to adapt; never assume you/the organization knows what's best for others
I'm the Only One Connected to individualism, the belief that if something is going to get done right, I have to do it Little or no ability to delegate work to others ANTIDOTES: Evaluate people based on their ability to delegate to others; evaluate people based on their ability to work as part of a team to accomplish shared goals
we Can Do Better! Antidotes Quick-Start Guide
Create a culture of appreciation: publicly express gratitude for people's work and contributions Choose integrity and actively refuse to participate in gossip Foster a culture of learning where mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities Understand that defensiveness is linked to fear (of losing power, face, privilege, comfort) Identify other antidotes already in place within the organization and seek ways to highlight and build upon them
Go to http://bit.ly/WSC_Characteristics to access to an editable and printable copy of this poster for your own use.
Chapter 16, Summer 2021
Fun Facts About Library IT Services (eServices to you, folks!) Aimee Schumm, eServices Manager Did you know?...eServices is the IT branch of the library. eServices works closely with City IT, but is primarily responsible for library-related IT (self-checks, PC reservation, meeting room AV, etc.). City IT takes care of the enterprise-related hardware/software (if other City departments use the same equipment—like the PCs, phones, network, Microsoft Office, etc.—then City IT takes care of it).
Lisa (left), Aimee (center), and Sean (right) display their artistic creativity in the eServices offices at Main. Photo credit: eServices
On average, the library’s eServices team answers close to 400 tickets annually. The team occasionally has “laptop parties” where we all get together to run updates on all of the library’s laptops! Lisa Holmberg has a Political Science undergraduate degree and a MLIS from the University of Missouri. She has worked in public, academic, medical, and nonprofit libraries. She is likely knitting when in a virtual meeting with you or other team members and can be bribed with coffee, chocolate or yarn.
Sean Crow has a communications undergraduate degree and a MLIS from the University of Denver. He has worked in public, academic, medical and corporate libraries. He is a land owner in Ireland (1 square foot of land) and would prefer we all call him Lord Sean of Ireland.
Aimee Schumm has a Fine Arts and Psychology degree (with a minor in Gallery Management) and a MLIS from the University of Missouri. She has worked in public, academic and federal libraries. In 6th grade Aimee got first place in the high jump in her elementary school! She, too, can be bribed with coffee, chocolate or funny memes. 24
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CARNEGIE CACHE: Representing Latinx in the Boulder County Historical Record, Part 2: Visibility and Cataloging Nicole Docimo In the last issue of the Open Book, I wrote an article talking about the challenges of collecting materials that tell the story of Latinx communities in Boulder County and some possible creative solutions to these challenges. In this issue, I would like to discuss another facet of representing marginalized populations in archives: making what we already have discoverable. As I wrote in my last article: according to 2019 estimated census data, 9.7% of the City of Boulder population and 14% of Boulder County identifies as Hispanic or Latino. But at my best estimate, less than .6% of the records in the Carnegie Library catalog have identifying terms related to Latinx populations. By “identifying terms,” I mean that the items were cataloged with a series of different keywords and subject headings including: Hispanics, Latinos, MexicanAmericans, Chicanos and other variations of these terms. This list already points to one challenge in finding information about minority populations: identifying terms change over time and can include more and less specific groups (for example: Latino versus Mexican-American). Are there materials I am missing because I’m not searching the correct term or thinking of all the possible keywords? Possibly. We are working towards
improving and standardizing our descriptions, but this process is complex and takes time with tricky questions continuing to arise like: how can we catalog consistently but still allow for nuance and make searching user-friendly? We can decide to consistently use the term “Latinx,” but is that what patrons will search for? Another and more fundamental line of questioning also presents itself: how do we even decide to include an identifying term in a particular cataloging record? How do we determine whether archival materials are about or include Latinx communities? Below I will explore these questions through researching two photographs in the Carnegie Library collection.
Unidentified photograph of a family standing in front of a Louisville home. Call# 213-2-18, Carnegie Library for Local History/Museum of Boulder collection. The photograph above is one photograph I turned up as part of the .6% of materials in our archive cataloged with descriptors related to Latinx communities. Written on the back of the photograph are the words “Mexican-American.” The actual photoprint is not old; my guess is that it was printed in the past 30 years by Carnegie staff 25
Chapter 16, Summer 2021 from a negative donation or possibly not long before it came to Carnegie, so the writing on the back of the print did not come from an original owner who knew the people in the photograph. The photograph appears in a Carnegie Library cataloging record titled “Louisville houses” along with four other undated, unidentified photographs of other Louisville homes, and is described as “An Hispanic family of three adults and five children on the porch of a stone building, some of them holding brass instruments.” We have included a subject heading for MexicanAmericans in the cataloging record. I turned up a very similar photograph of the same family in front of the same house in another Carnegie collection (see below). That photograph is part of an album titled “Louisville.” The album does not have any identifying notes, so it appears the information we have about this second photo was transferred over from the cataloging record of the first photo I found.
Unidentified photograph of the same Louisville family as above. Call# 715-5-(36-40), Martin Parsons Album and Negative Collection, Carnegie Library for Local History. The information identifying this family as Latinx seemed flimsy to me, so I decided to go on a hunt to see if I could truly identify this family and find out if they were actually Mexican-American.
Looking at the photographs, it quickly occurred to me that the best lead I had for identification was not the people, but the house. The house behind the group is distinct with unique stonework and an oval window. If I could identify the house, I could maybe find the owners and hopefully the family. I started trying to sift through Carnegie Library property records, but quickly realized I would be looking for a needle in a haystack. A quicker answer was likely outside of Carnegie Library—I turned to the Louisville Historical Museum. On their website I spotted a link about landmarked houses in Louisville—surely this house would be landmarked! A few clicks later, and I did a double-take: a stone house appeared on my screen identified as 701 Garfield Avenue in Louisville. The house appeared with the following text: “Anthony C.V. Romeo built Louisville’s only historic stone residence in 1907 out of stone from Marshall, Colorado. “Tony” Romeo was a miner, union organizer, owner of a second-hand goods store on Front Street, and head of a musical family.” Bingo! A little more searching in the Louisville digitized photos by family name, and I found the exact same photo we have in our catalog (the second photo of the family above) identified as the Anthony Romeo family. Now that I had identified the family, it was time to get down to the real business: were they Mexican-American? The name sounded Italian to me, and I knew that Louisville had an early Italian population, but I couldn’t be certain without proof. I jumped over to ancestry.com and after some sleuthing discovered a family tree for Anthony Charles Vincent Romeo that read: “Birth, 26 Sep 1877, Italy.” I had already 26
Chapter 16, Summer 2021 put a question into the folks at the Louisville Historical Museum for more information about the family, and the next day I received an email back confirming the Italian ancestry of the family. I also received a copy of a report on the house and family with fun information like Anthony’s last name was actually Romano, but it is believed he changed it to Romeo so it would be less common, and Anthony named his first son Philippine Island (yes, you read that right) “in an expression of his patriotism (Spain ceded the Philippines to the U.S. following its defeat in the Spanish-American War of 1898).” This exercise proves an important point: true discoverability is only as good as the accuracy of your metadata. If the information does not come with the item, then you have two choices: leave it unidentified or do the research. This photograph’s misidentification is an example of a middle ground that can unfortunately lead to misrepresentation. But it also brings up other questions: what if the family had been MexicanAmerican and we had left it unidentified? How would we have ever found it again? As much as I wish the cataloger had done more research or at least written the description to reflect possibility, not fact, I cannot help wondering how many other photographs there may be in our catalog that were left completely unidentified but could with some research prove that we have more Latinx materials in our collections than we think. While we cannot go back and force every donor to write their names and addresses on the back of every photograph (but you should do this right now with your own family photos! Use pencil!), we can bring more thoughtfulness to the materials and our cataloging efforts.
Many archives are launching re-discovery projects to look more closely through existing collections and find hidden materials that tell the stories of underrepresented groups. Others are rethinking how they describe materials in more inclusive and sensitive ways. As archivists we often walk a tricky line between spending the time to fully identify and describe materials and processing and digitizing materials as quickly as possible. Telling more complete stories of history will require us to slow down and spend more time and thought uncovering, researching, and describing items from and about underrepresented groups. We will have to make this work a priority over years and make every effort to continue to come back to it when other seemingly more urgent needs pull us away.
Above, the Carnegie Library building in Boulder.
Although Carnegie remains closed, basic research and scanning services are still available. Email askcarnegie@boulderlibrary.org for information and inquiries. 27
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Artists’ Corner: A Collaboration is Born Katherine Bertone Basements can be windowless, dreary places. But at Main Library, special things happen below ground. Marvelously special things. Case in point: over the past 2+ years, three artistic brains down below have been busy birthing a multilayer, multimedia work that “meditates on how everyday appliances…interact with our emotions, actions, family members and perceptions of the present” (as says writer/composer and Materials Handler Tim Novak). That is probably not what you were picturing! Little Throats of Soulless Things—a handsewn illustrated chapbook with accompanying sound art—began with the whir of a bathroom fan in Tim’s home. That surprised me! The soundtracks crafted from everyday appliances doing their work are not simply a cool add-on to this project. Rather, they were the germ from which the whole work grew. After the sounds came Tim’s poetry. Next, he considered a video element to capture the household objects. “I eventually scrapped that idea when I remembered some drawings I saw of Dave's: they were alive, full of motion, yet static on the page. It was exactly what I was looking for.” So he sucked fellow Materials Handler Dave Gonzalez into the project. With ink and a bamboo dip pen, Dave created 3 or 4 drawings for each object in the book; these were eventually winnowed down to one for each. The project grew even richer when Tim folded in yet another Materials Handler. A casual book drop conversation with Renate Marie turned into plans
A copy of the materials handlers’ handsewn, illustrated poetry chapbook. Photo credit: Katherine Bertone for this experienced artist to screen print Dave’s ink drawings and hand-sew the final creation. The execution itself was anything but casual! There was research to be done, and experimentation with various materials. The archival glue recommended overwhelmingly by bookbinders, for example, turned out not to be adequate for the 32-pound linen paper the team planned to use. It just wouldn’t hold. “I was tremendously discouraged for a couple days,” remembers Renate. “But one evening as I waited to fall asleep, the answer came to me—to sew 28
Chapter 16, Summer 2021 the pages together with the sewing machine. But I would not have been able to do this had Dave not provided me with a sewing machine to use (for a different purpose) about a week prior. There are no coincidences,” she says with a wink. The creation of these three artists is a marvel of collaboration. In some ways, I’m not surprised; they work together seamlessly on a daily basis while the conversation flows and twists and reaches interesting places before getting interrupted again. But, really, did anyone expect something this marvelous to emerge while the books were getting sorted downstairs? A basement is not always a soulless thing.
Dave G., Tim N., and Renate M. enjoy their creation above ground. Photo credit: Katherine Bertone.
Staff Spotlight: Kathy Janosko Louise Fordyce How long have you worked at the Boulder Public Library? And how did you come to work here? I started in Sept of 2007, so almost 14 years. I responded to a “help wanted” posting for someone to handle the accounts payable and deposits. I started out as a half-time employee. What type of work did you do prior to your years at BPL? I worked for a computer sales and engineering company in Virginia prior to my move to Colorado in 2006. It was a small start-up when I first started there so I did all things office related: payables, ordering, HR, payroll. By the time I left, I was only handling payroll and HR as the administrative staff had grown over the 15 years I was there.
Kathy on Mount Bierstadt. Photo credit: Jeff Janosko. 29
Chapter 16, Summer 2021 Can you give us a short overview of a typical day in your department? This is a hard one to answer since in Admin we all have different duties. Meetings, planning, reports, budget work……. Can you give us a brief rundown of what your daily tasks/workday consist of? I am lucky in that my days are often varied. It may seem tedious to others, but I like it. My work days are usually a mix of any of the following: processing vendor invoices for payment and reconciling their statement/accounts to ensure that the library is timely with payments. reconciling cash and card transactions at the registers and on-line, then preparing and entering bank deposits. handling the cash/card transactions at the printer/copier coin-ops. I also try to trouble shoot them when I can. Reconciling, preparing and entering the related bank deposits. preparing and distributing monthly purchasing card statements. Reviewing reconciled statements and entering expense reallocation information. maintaining fund balance reports for the various BLF program grants. working with the Library Foundation to ensure receipt of grant funding. working with the City’s Finance team to ensure that the library is up to date on the data processing and reporting requirements. maintaining stats for things like the door entry data and hours of operation for use in the internal quarterly reports and the annual State Library statistical report.
helping complete the annual State Library statistical reports. responding to staff questions/concerns such as keycard and door key access, where to find needed supplies or whatever else comes up. helping other departments with room reservations when they need them outside of our normal “do-it-yourself” reservation options. responding to patron questions, as needed. (But PS is so darn good now that this isn’t nearly as often as it used to be when I first started. YEAH, PS team!) backing up for all things library-related for Payroll and HR when Celia is not available. preparing data and reports, as needed, for the Management team. pitching in when another library staff member, program, or area needs a hand. pitching in when other City departments need a hand.
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Chapter 16, Summer 2021 Can you share some of the most/more satisfying experiences you've had at work in the library?
Can you share the most bizarre or funny experience you’ve had at work in the library?
There have been many different times when I absolutely loved something I was lucky enough to be involved with at the library but I think that this past year has been the most amazing. I was able to help out when the Carryout Holds-Pickup program started at Main and Meadows. Just being able to see the patrons again, imagine their smiles behind their masks when they picked up their books and hear their happy exclamations of thanks. Also, seeing the incredible work the staff has done in all areas to bring resources and programming to the patrons. The staff continually blow me away with what they do.
Of course I can’t think of single “real-funny” thing right now but one of my favorite fun times was when a young child, standing by the fountain with his caregiver, suddenly jumped in with both feet and stood there in the water with the biggest smile on his face. Fortunately, the caregiver had a sense of humor and both were laughing while the child was lifted back out.
Can you tell us about your hobbies outside of work? Hiking, dog walking, taking care of my plants, reading and—since March of last year—quilting.
If you didn't work at the library what would your "pie-in-the-sky" dream job be? Babysitting grandbabies! But since that isn’t in my immediate future, the library is definitely a dream job.
When you find bags and bundles of chocolates in the breakrooms, you can likely thank Kathy J. Photo credit: Monnie Nilsson
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In a Past Life: Neel Welandagoda Katherine Bertone In a Past Life features aspects of the lives of library staff before they joined the library world. Library Specialist Neel Welandagoda has made a lot of people—both staff and patrons—feel welcome at the library over the past two decades. I would love to know just how many have been warmed by his remarkable smile; I estimate the number to be in the hundreds of thousands. When I started at BPL in 2006, Neel was here, smiling that wonderful smile, and making me feel that he was glad I had arrived. Neel has filled the seemingly natural role of welcomer for a long time now. But, of course, it hasn’t always been this way: in his “past life,” Neel knew what it was to be a newcomer, too. And February 4, 1998—the day Neel landed stateside from his native Sri Lanka—was not the first time.
Neel W. during his college years in India, temporarily giving his 100-watt smile a bit of a rest. Photo courtesy of Neel Welandagoda
About a decade before that, Neel became a newcomer student, venturing to India to study at the University of Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram. (After three successful years, he earned his BA in English Literature, World History, and Sanskrit Language.) During his post-college years, he had the chance to become the newcomer as traveler, visiting Singapore and Malaysia for several weeks. And then there was his time in Australia as newcomer on assignment. In the 1990s, Neel was recruited for his language skills and experience as an instructor to work within a Sri Lankan community in Australia. He taught the Sinhalese language and history to children who were growing up speaking English as their first language. This was Neel’s first time in the “western world” and, as he recalls, he certainly felt some culture shock. The food was different and he had to become adept at preparing his own meals. The English was different; he was used to accents influenced primarily by British English. The space was different. “Living in Australia made me feel isolated at times due to [the] enormity of the land and sparce population compared to the crowded living in Sri Lanka. But I felt I could breathe better,” remembers Neel. After a few months of settling in, he found plenty to appreciate: dry weather and cooler winter seasons; fluffy koalas; the country’s friendly, open-minded people; and the satisfaction of growing more independent in this new place. But none of those was the best thing. The best thing was what Australia didn’t have: monster cockroaches. Neel discovered with delight that, while the Land Down Under is home to some insignificant varieties, it is apparently not home to the disgusting beasts he had grown up with. “Cockroaches are my worst nightmare,” he confesses. 33
Chapter 16, Summer 2021 Yes, even someone as generous and welcoming as Neel has limits.
A soldering ninja, for heaven’s sake! How could you not want her by your side?
Neel’s Australia adventure lasted about a year and a half. Not long after, he touched down in Colorado for the first time. I really think we should check the local weather report for February 4, 1998. I think we’d find that that day was just a little brighter here than usual.
It’s true that zombies are remarkably scary creatures. But I really don’t think that would be a problem for Hope. She knows how to deal. Once, while working for the Western Center for the Conservation of Fine Arts, she spent three weeks cleaning the murals at Denver International Airport where she was exposed to travelers— travelers who accosted her to share all kinds of DIA fun facts they had heard or to opine about the “demonic” Broncos. And Hope just laughs it all off as great material for dinner conversation! Later, while working for a small poster restoration company, she had to satisfy collectors. For one project, she was tasked with removing the smudge from the Texas-shaped sign used in the hitch-hiking scene of Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. It took repeated effort and some bad words to get it done. But here she is at BPL, none the worse for wear. This woman is a tough cookie.
In a Past Life: Hope Arculin Katherine Bertone If we ever hear that the zombie apocalypse has begun, I call dibs on Hope Arculin, Carnegie Library Archivist. I don’t actually know that she knows what to do in a zombie apocalypse, but I have a good feeling about it. You might be thinking, “Hope? Would she charm the zombies with all her loveliness?” I think that’s not entirely out of the question. But really I’m counting on her many and varied mad skills. This is, after all, a woman who graduated from college with a BFA in painting and art history and then thought something like, “Hmm, the National Guard seems interesting. I’ll do that.” A mistake? Hell, no! She reports that she loved basic training, which she considered “one big adventure.” So, if you’re picturing Hope wearing those little white cotton gloves at Carnegie, know that she’s not afraid to get dirty. At another point in her pre-BPL life, she worked in the hot, grimy wax sculpting room of a sculpture lab, preparing castings before the metal was poured to make the final product. Not her favorite job, but it didn’t scare her away from hard physical work. Later, she put her college metalsmithing skills to use as the “soldering ninja” for a company making LED hula hoops.
I do really love learning about colleagues’ past lives and sharing their fascinating stories with you. But I’m sort of kicking myself here for giving away too much. Please just remember that dibs carry the weight of law, even when civilization is falling apart. Hope A. bravely works among travelers to restore a mural at Denver International Airport. Photo courtesy of Hope Arculin 34
Stay tuned for a re-opening roundup of in-person events, and get to know our BPL staff who work with teen patrons!
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