Some of my earliest memories are visiting my local public library in Massachusetts for storytime and children’s books. Being an only child, going to storytime every Tuesday morning was my first (and only) interaction with kids my own age before I started school. I opened my first library card in pre-school and frequently hit my 40 books per week checkout limit. As an advanced reader, I would finish multiple books per day. Therefore, it would have been financially unreasonable to continuously buy books every time I finished one. The library was a source of endless stories, with some of my favorite series being Little House on the Prairie, Babysitters Club, Nancy Drew, and The Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley.

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As I outgrew storytime, I continued attending children’s programs at the library including crafts, magic shows, and animal encounters. I have a distinct memory of going to a Harry Potter themed party for tweens dressed as Hermione. At this party, I was the victor of the Harry Potter Trivia Wizard Tournament.

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Throughout my childhood, I also participated in the annual Summer Reading Program. From the ages of 11-17, I volunteered twice per week at the Summer Reading booth in the children’s room checking reading logs and handing out prizes to the younger kids. As a teenager, the library was also a convenient and central location to meet up with classmates for group projects.

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Moving to Connecticut as a young adult, I couldn’t figure out what I really wanted to do with my life, but kept finding myself drawn back to books and libraries. While attending classes for my Master’s in Library Science, I worked part-time at a couple different public libraries. These experiences reminded me how peaceful and comforting libraries are and solidified this as my future career. I was working at one of these libraries on COVID shutdown day in March 2020 and the response from people in town showed just how important libraries are to a community. Within minutes of sending out the closing message, we had a line out the door and down the street of people waiting to grab handfuls of books and movies. We stayed open late to make sure everyone had something to keep them entertained during a depressing and lonely time.

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My Windsor Locks Library journey started in Fall 2020, and I have been here ever since. Some of the best parts of my job include facilitating Book Buddies book club, creating the Adult Winter and Summer Reading Programs, and ordering patron book requests to encourage lifelong reading and educated adults in this community.