The Sibert and Me

I came to the enjoyment of informational books in my adulthood. I was very much a typical ‘girl reader’ as a youngster ….. fiction, fiction and more fiction. I loved reading and I loved stories. But as I look back at my childhood and adolescence I find the seeds of my interest in nonfiction. I envied the chemistry set my brother got one Christmas and played with it more than he did. That interest followed me through high school and into college where I considered chemistry as a major before settling on Latin and ancient history, two other favorite subjects in high school. I was fascinated by the ancients and their ‘dead’ language and planned to share this fascination in the classroom. But by the time I graduated, Latin teaching jobs were disappearing.

My interest in becoming a librarian grew from my experiences as a substitute teacher in public and private schools wherever we lived during my husband’s Navy days. After his service concluded and we were settled in a community where we expected to stay, I got my first job as an elementary school librarian. I was inexperienced and just beginning to work on my library masters degree, but I got that job because my academic background meshed with the focus of the district’s gifted program. To serve the needs of my students and of the curriculum, I began to read more and more children's nonfiction and as I did, my interest in adult nonfiction increased. My adult reading expanded to include biography and American history, and the reading interests of my students led me to read books about other subjects I never expected to enjoy. The result is that my reading choices in both adult and children's books are eclectic.

Thus, first among my reasons for wanting to serve on the Sibert committee is that I enjoy reading informational books, and I especially enjoy the variety of ways today’s authors employ to convey information. Second, I believe I have the expertise to be an effective member of the committee and the temperament to work cordially with others without surrendering my responsibility to champion a book I believe in. Next, I have the time. While I am a very busy retired librarian, I have the luxury of allocating my time as I wish and committee work would be a priority. Lastly, I think it would be fun to meet and work with colleagues from other parts of the country with different professional experiences.

It may not be easy to understand why someone who already reads a lot would want to take on the task of reading so many extra books next year, but I hope I have explained myself well enough that you will consider voting for me and telling your colleagues about me and this blog. I’d be happy to respond to your comments or answer the questions you may post. Thanks for visiting.