Welcome to our Library Joy Series in honor of National Library Week! Here we are highlighting some of our amazing staff to share how and why they love what they do. Next up is Laura, the KCKPL Executive Director.
Why did you decide to get into Library work?
I was a newspaper reporter, which was really stressful, so I was looking for a new career. I loved the idea of sharing information with people to help them be good participants in democracy and in the world and learn new things, but that job was very stressful. A library is a newspaper's laid-back cousin. Newspapers seek out stories for various reasons, and libraries make all of those stories available to the public without judgment. It was a better fit for me.
What is your favorite part about working for a library?
I love learning new things, and in every job I've had in libraries, I've been able to do that. Whenever I'm in a new position, I imagine myself diving into an ocean and swimming around, occasionally catching glances of things I understand. Most things are under the water, but over time, the water recedes, and I see and understand more. It's that process of gaining understanding and then using it to improve the system that I enjoy most.
Do you have a book or collections recommendation?
I recommend Project Hail Mary as an audiobook. It's all about humans using their problem-solving ability in order to save the world.
What's a fun fact about you?
I love bugs. I have always been an amateur entomologist, even as a kid. I take a lot of photos of them and post them to iNaturalist to identify and share them with others. My favorite bug is the wheel bug!
Keep checking back all week to meet more of our staff or stop by one of locations today!
Project Hail Mary [sound recording]
Ryland Grace wakes up alone on a spacecraft, his memory fractured and his crewmates dead. As he recalls his mission to stop an extinction-level threat facing Earth, he forms an unlikely alliance that becomes humanity's only hope. A story of science, endurance, and discovery across deep space.