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New FF librarian [UPDATED]
Published 10:53am Monday, February 6, 2012 Updated 11:32am Tuesday, February 7, 2012Think of Katelyn Edds as the key that can help you unlock the Fergus Falls Public Library’s full potential.
“The library offers more than people think,” said Edds, the library’s new reference and adult services librarian. “We really do keep in line with new technology, new ideas and new ways to (offer) them.”
Edds moved to Fergus Falls and started working at the library two weeks ago. Before that, she hailed from Champaign, Ill., where she graduated from the University of Illinois with a master’s degree in library science.
Though she originally looked for library work around Champaign, Edds eventually broadened her search and was happy to discover Fergus Falls, as she likes working in a small-town library environment, especially one that’s relatively close to her parents in Fargo.
“It allows a lot more flexibility and freedom to come up with program ideas and implement them,” she said of working for a smaller library.
Edds’ job is split into two areas. On the reference side, she mans the information desk, answering questions and helping customers find the solutions they need. Her questions can range from as simple to the correct spelling of a certain word to as complex as her hardest question of the last two weeks: how to disassemble the transmission of a 1955 Oldsmobile.
That’s the fun of reference for Edds; she enjoys the “great, fun search” for the answer that often can range across a variety of sources, from online databases to reference books to back issues of Consumer Reports.
“You really need to check multiple places,” she said.
With the Oldsmobile, Edds tracked down a free 1957 manual online, as well as a few places to buy a 1955 manual. Though the customer ended up getting his friend to help him with the job, Edds was happy to offer him the best information she could.
The other side of Edds’ job is organizing library programming for adults. Pointing to the jam-packed children’s schedule maintained by children’s librarian Arielle Krohn (“She has like three things going on every day,” Edds said), she hopes to bring the adult programming to the same level, where residents can always include a library event in their options of what to do or where to go.
“We have some pretty exciting opportunities coming up,” Edds said.
Among those opportunities is the library’s increased focus on technological literacy, with informational sessions on the best use of social media and other technology.
For the more literary-minded, Edds is scheduling a number of author visits, including one by Catherine Friend, author of “The Compassionate Carnivore,” a book about eating meat that’s been humanely grown and prepared.
Edds has other big ideas for the future, like an heirloom seed bank that people can use to grow a variety of local crops. It’s programs like that, she said, that can expand the way people look at the library and the educational services it can give.
Though she’s only been working for two weeks, Edds is already working well with customers and her co-workers. The library runs so smoothly because of a truly cooperative spirit focused on improvement, she remarked.
“My favorite part of the job is how well everyone works together,” she said.
It’s time for this reporter, a woman, to join the 21st century. Stating the new librarian “mans the information desk” is outdated. Try the word “staff” and variations.