A Wannabe Librarian in New York

When I was a little girl...

We went to the library a lot, and I actually liked books! (This is important because I would go through a book dry spell later). There was story time at the library, and puppets you could borrow, and a fun little ledge underneath the stairwell that I liked to sit on while my mom stood in line—I was sort of hidden! Behind the little ledge was this faux plant area with wood chips and pieces of styrofoam. Little Alicia was always curious about the styrofoam, probably even more than the books. 

And then I became a teenager...

and my literary taste SUCKED. Much like my TV taste (Beverly Hills, Melrose Place) and my clothing taste (brightly colored sweaters, LA Gear high-tops). My goals during these years were to read EVERY SINGLE R.L. Stine book. In hindsight, this is pretty sad. I read A LOT of them. Well done, Alicia, you are stupid. 
So maybe I was technically reading, but I consider this my long dry spell that I almost never emerged from. I became disinterested in books after I got tired of my R.L. Stine aspirations and decided that I HATED books. Teenage-apathy-let’s-go-to-the-mall time.

Luckily, I went to a private prep school for girls beginning in 9th grade...

That’s when my ENTIRE world changed. You know how you can plot on a timeline the truly pivotal moments in your life? Where you switched gears, changed your tune, took a sharp turn to the right off that straight and narrow path? Slowly, I was getting into reading, but more because I HAD to. It was private school! It was hard! Everyone was smarter! 
One day in English class, which I HATED by the way, my teacher mentioned the author Willa Cather. I had never heard of her, and for some reason, this angered me. Not that I hadn’t read her books, just that I had never heard her name. I felt insulted and unintelligent. I literally ran to the library after class, searched the fiction section and chose the shortest Cather book. The title? Fittingly, A Lost Lady. From this moment on, that first domino was lightly tapped. There was so much I didn’t know, so many books I had never read, and for the first time, I a) cared about this and b) was not overwhelmed by this; rather I was ecstatic and excited and determined to soak up EVERYTHING. 

Suddenly, things get competitive...

From the library to the kitchen...

While in high school, I skipped studying for important exams to read for fun in the library. Later, I learned my dad read fun books during HS exam time too! Cut from the same cloth…
During the summers of high school, I read a book every 2 days or so. (Yes, I worked sometimes, but I stayed up at night, thanks very much). I also got into cooking and baking. To replace the stacks of 10-12 books I would take out at my high school library during the school year (by the way, the librarians loved me! everyone else was reading for class and I was one of the few reading for “fun”), I started taking out stacks of cookbooks and READING them cover to cover. The interesting recipes I would write down on index cards and file away. 
The following are my picks for the best cookbook selections. Yes, I STILL take out cookbooks from the library and read them. I’ve graduated from index cards to white paper. Still write them out by hand…

Pretending to be a Librarian in College

In college, not only did I skip studying in order to read non-class books, but I skipped class as well. And sometimes work. And sleep. I once skipped a day of classes just to read Hamlet before seeing the play that very night. I took out a TON of books from the library, and worked there 10 hours every week for 3 years! 
I dilly-dallied in the stacks, reading poetry and listening to Jeff Buckley on my CD player. I took naps on the couches. I erased all late fees and fines from my account on a regular basis. I once rode around on the handicap scooters and decorated the librarian office with baked potatoes, aided by a fellow worker. Oh yeah, and I was a Student Supervisor, i.e., library role model. Ha. Right.

Love the Dewey Decimal System

I think this should be a requirement for all librarians. I’m pretty sure I am one of the few young people out there who LOVES this classification system. It is beautiful and wonderful:
“DDC’s advantage in choosing decimals for its categories allows it to be both purely numerical and infinitely hierarchical. It also uses some aspects of a faceted classification scheme, combining elements from different parts of the structure to construct a number representing the subject content (often combining two subject elements with linking numbers and geographical and temporal elements) and form of an item rather than drawing upon a list containing each class and its meaning.”

It’s “more flexible than Library of Congress Classification because of greater use of facets (via auxiliary tables) while Library of Congress classification is almost totally enumerative.”
You’re probably jealous that I understand what all of the above means and you don’t. You’re probably ready to tell me all its disadvantages. Well, guess what, I know them. I have thoroughly studied the Library of Congress classification system as well, on my own, FOR FUN. Don’t hate me because I know everything, okay?

Random New York Library-ness

Library Science, Here I Come!

Okay, not yet, and maybe not ever, but if I wanted to pursue library science, I could do it without leaving New York. Seems like a funny course of education to pursue in such an urban area, but haven’t you heard, David McCullough, the great historian, calls the New York Public Library one of the five most important bibliotheques in the country. 

Additional Bookish Guides

My dad, a Guidespotter, shares a library story for this guide!

In college:
“I would usually go to the library, pick a corral in the furthest, darkest corner, put a stack of class books in front of me, and then use them as a pillow and take a little nap.  Then, after I woke up, I would roam the stacks, looking for something fun to read, anything except a book for one of my classes.  I usually ended up reading a book on bricklaying, highway traffic analysis and/or highway design, or something like a biography of Tchaikovsky.  I once read a book that told you that you could have perfect pitch and be a great musician, just by associating every note of the scale with a different color.  I don’t know how successful that guy was with his theory.”