Amanda Landry is currently a Junior English major here at Framingham State. She is a commuter student who works at the Blackstone Public Library and here in the Henry Whittemore Library. She loves young adult literature and spending time with her boyfriend and her friends. I’ve known Amanda since freshman orientation, and we’ve grown incredibly close over the past two years. She’s the only person I know who wants to be a librarian, and being friends with her has given me a lot of insight into the ways librarians work hard behind the scenes. I wanted to ask her more about her work as a librarian and how her time here at Framingham is prepping her for a career in the field.
What made you want to start working in libraries? And how long have you been working in them?
It’s going to sound cheesy, but I’ve always secretly wanted to work in libraries. I started off learning the Dewey Decimal system in 5thgrade when I became a Library Aide at my school’s library (I even have a picture in my 5thgrade year book for it…yikes). But I thought you had to be old and have no real job to be a librarian, so from then on I chose Panda Trainer, and it continued to change from there. It wasn’t until I was taking one of those career interest profilers when looking at colleges that I learned that I could be a librarian!
I’ve been officially working in libraries since January-ish of 2016. My high school was surprisingly cool enough to offer internships for half the year and count it as class credit. From there, the library I interned in decided to hire me on my 18thbirthday. I now work there and Framingham State’s library part-time.
You’re getting your degree in English here at Framingham, what are your plans for after graduation?
My plan after graduation is to go to Simmons College in Boston for a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science (MLS for short) and in Children’s Literature. A lot of people don’t know that most full-time positions within a library require an MLS to get hired. I also plan on owning a cat and dog, continue taking tap dance classes, and eat my weight in any form of potato (especially hash browns).
What draws you to the children and young adult audience?
What doesn’t draw me to children and young adults? I have a ten, maybe 11 year old boy who walks with his sister to the library at least twice a week after school. He always calls me Miranda, insists on helping me clean up everytime after Lego Club, and makes it his life’s mission to be able to scare every librarian in the building (though he doesn’t scare the “old” ones because he’s worried they’ll have a heart attack). He’s kind and sometimes overly playful, loves making war scenes with Legos, and has an awesome Spongebob hat I wish I owned. Have you ever met an adult that can give you the same without wanting something in return?
What are some things you wish people knew about libraries and working in them?
I want people to know how rewarding they are. We are constantly striving to provide absolutely anything you can think of to our patrons. Right now, we are circulating ukuleles, telescopes (like super legit ones), a ghost hunting kit, metal detectors, and a bunch more. We aren’t just books anymore, and even if we were, I promise people still check those out, too, and we don’t care if it’s digital or in print (well a little, but we provide both, anyways). And even if you don’t like any of that stuff, we have people coming in all the time to teach or show off cool stuff that we have no idea how to do (like belly dancing, playing in a rock band, or learning robotics). I wish people knew that there is someone super awesome (like me) who is super interested in what someone (like you) likes to do and know. Talking is half our job, and anyone who knows me knows I love to talk, so stop in and ask what’s going on, because it’s usually pretty cool.
What new values and ideas do you want to bring to your job as a librarian in the future?
I can’t wait to be a part of all of the expanding young adult sections within libraries. Before being a librarian, I debated on being a high school English teacher, mainly because I liked books and talking with teenagers. Now I still get to be heavily involved with both of those things, but without being confined to the standards teachers are held to. I have so much respect for teachers, but I want to be accessible to teens on their terms, not to the terms the state dictates.
I also hope that one day libraries will be the main communal spaces for their town. The British Library will always be an inspiriting site for me. Maybe a site with a Barnes and Noble type café feel with outdoor seating, but without you spending money (except for on coffee, if that’s your thing). This may or may not happen, and it may just be a dream, but I’ll always be dreaming for something, so why not books, coffee, and sunshine?
Do you have any advice for aspiring librarians?
Gosh, I guess my advice for aspiring librarians would be to talk to other librarians. We love to talk about how awesome we think our job is. If you want to know if it’s the right fit for you, volunteer in one (also know there is a difference between working in a public library and an academic one). You might just be shelving and shelf reading at first, and most of us start there. But once you’re there, you can ask questions and see what it’s all about, and from there, you can definitely figure it out.