Yvonne Reff: New job for a familiar face.

The Watertown Daily Times recently did a lovely piece on the new director at Flower Memorial Library, which I missed completely. Not surprisingly. I might be handy with a road map and good at Jeopardy, but otherwise, quite a lot gets past me. 

But a blog interview with aforementioned new director was NOT gonna get past me, especially since I know the lady personally and she has helped me move my couch. Without further delay, then, my chat with Yvonne Reff:

Okay, so I'm gonna start with an easy question, and you can answer however you like: Who are you?

I am a Virgo who likes long walks on the beach. No, sorry, wrong questionnaire. I am a librarian who enjoys helping people and creating order from chaos.

How did you come to librarianship as a career?

As a child, I loved going to the library. When I heard about the Syracuse University’s MLS program, I decided to pursue it. With an MLS, I could combine my love of libraries and helping people. And maybe help another generation of kids learn to love to read.

Sounds like you loved to read as a kid. What were some of your favorite books?

I loved to read everything:  Winnie the Pooh, Anne of Green Gables. Then I started reading fables because there were so many fable books at the library. As I got older, I enjoyed science fiction like the I, Robot series and The Gods Themselves by Asimov and fantasy books like Lord of the Rings. But then I discovered Nancy Drew books and I have loved reading mysteries since then. Obviously, my favorite authors are the classic mystery writers – Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ellis Peters.  Some of my other favorite authors are Nevada Barr, Tony Hillerman, S.J Bolton, C.J. Box, Charlaine Harris, Darynda Jones (fun, fun books). Now that I am a little older, I find that I am being drawn to non-fiction books like biographies and history books.

You were at Flower for eight years as a reference librarian before becoming the director. Can you talk about some of the changes that the new job has brought? 

Before, I felt that I was helping people on a one-to-one basis. Now I feel as if I can help people on a whole, new, even bigger scale. That is very exciting and humbling at the same time.

What are you most looking forward to as director?

This is a hard question... I am looking forward most to helping people on a much larger scale. I am looking forward to helping people say "my library" instead of "the library."

Lovely. And now, the lightning round:

Coke or Pepsi?
Coke.

Chocolate or vanilla?
Chocolate.

Salt & vinegar or barbeque?
Salt & vinegar.

BBC or PBS?
BBC.

Although it's nice when there's a BBC/PBS crossover.
Oh, God, yes!

Pablo Picasso or Pablo Neruda?
(long pause.)

You can say neither.
 Neither. I just don't.

Paper or plastic?
Paper.

Crossword or wordsearch?
Crossword.

Umbrella or poncho?
Umbrella.

The Hobbit or-
The Hobbit.

And there you have it. Thanks to Yvonne for taking the time to chat with me, and congratulations once again!

*Photo shamelessly nabbed from the Watertown Daily Times. Shamelessly. I have no shame.