Chaucer! Rabelais!
Balzac!
At the Circulation Desk with Barbara Hunting Bean ’66, Katie Doherty ’69, Danielle Lewis ’87, Karen Nathan ’75 and Brearley Library Head Celia Dillon What is your position and how long have you held it?
Do you credit your time at Brearley as influencing your choice of profession?
BB: I worked as a reference librarian at the Michigan State University College of Law in East Lansing for 14 years. Librarianship was my second career. I had previously been an attorney, and this was the only library job I held.
BB: Yes and no. Growing up three doors down from a library, I went there with my mother as soon as I could walk. At Brearley, Mrs. Roudebush was a terrific LS librarian; how else would I have discovered Australia? I think I was in Class VIII when Kitty Cunningham arrived; our class, which had rather a bad reputation, was admonished to be “nice” to her, because she might be reluctant to shush us vigorously. Kitty was one of the kindest people I have ever met and remains a dear friend to this day.
KD: I worked as Director of Learning Resources at White Mountains Community College (NH) for 25 years. DL: Middle School Librarian at the United Nations International School (UNIS) in New York since 2015. KN: Private librarian for a rare book collector for the past 23 years. CD: Brearley Lower School Librarian for almost five years, and Head of the Library Department since last fall.
How long have you been working in the library profession? KD: 40+ years. DL: 10 years, plus I was a library aide in college and graduate school and co-created a bilingual library on a kibbutz in the early 1990s. KN: 38 years. CD: Six years. I also took on some librarian responsibilities at the school where I was teaching while I was in Library Science school.
KD: Absolutely. The MS and US libraries were favorite places. I adored Mrs. Cunningham; she was a wonderful role model—so supportive, friendly and smart—even though she threw me out of the library one day for being too noisy! DL: Absolutely. The Brearley library showed me what a library needs to be: full of delights waiting to be discovered, knowledgeable, helpful staff who treasured books and students, a sanctuary, and with an inviting touch of whimsy.
Favorite classes at Brearley? BB: Science (chemistry and biology) and Math. I also loved Class VI English. KD: English and History; Carpentry in Class VI. DL: Shakespeare with Mrs. Carpenter; History, both with Mrs. Lipton and Mr. Harrison; French Literature with Mme. Schmemann; Biology with Ms. Nedbal. KN: Biology and Math.
20 SPRING 2020
