Reading can take you a lot of places - outer space, a paradise lost or even into the thrill of romance.
Jason Rearick / The Citizen
Sheila Anderson is the new director of the Seymour Public Library. She comes from Dover, Del.
Sheila Anderson is the new director of the Seymour Public Library. She comes from Dover, Del.
Sheila Anderson's destination: Auburn.
An avid reader since she was young, Anderson has accepted the position as head librarian at the Seymour Library replacing Stephen Erskine, who recently retired.
Her journey began as a teenager, a part of her life that has remained integral in her life.
Many hours of her adolescence were spent at the public library. Anderson, now 35, admits school was not her forte and rather than reading the assigned material, she would instead spend her time at the library reading the things that interested her.
“Despite my academic apathy, I still liked to learn,” she said. “I would just wander around libraries.”
She grew up in the southern part of New Jersey just outside of Philadelphia. Her parents, however, were originally from Wellsville and the family would spend summers there.
“I had so much free time in the summers in Wellsville,” Anderson recalled. “I credit the David A. Howe Public Library for starting my interest in libraries.”
After high school, Anderson majored in English at Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J., and went on to get her master's degree at Clarion University in western Pennsylvania, for which she now teaches an online course.
Before moving to Auburn, Anderson has spent the last six years as director of the Dover Public Library in Dover, Del. She was already planning on moving to Auburn to be with her boyfriend when the job at Seymour Library opened and everything fell into place.
If she can do for the Seymour Library what she did in Dover, Auburn can expect a forward moving institution. In Delaware, Anderson saw public access to computers triple, a PC reservation system installed, circulation rise 100 percent and the book collection move into the present day.
“We bought multiple copies of current best sellers for instance,” she said. “But that's what people are looking for. When the new 'Harry Potter' came out, we purchased 60 copies and all were on hold before they even arrived.”
She stands firm that a public library should provide the community with the services and materials that reflect the needs of the residents. If there is a large elderly demographic, tax, medical and financial information should be available for them, she said.
“I would like to start computer classes for people who don't know how to use them,” she added.
“There are a lot of databases we get with the Finger Lakes Library System and we could teach them how to use them to find answers - like how to avoid frostbite,” she said laughing as snow fell outside the library.
Getting a feel for the community and what its residents need that they don't have will help Anderson achieve her primary goal of increasing traffic at Seymour Library. Having been used to an average of 1,000 visitors a day in Dover, she said Seymour Library is much quieter.
“I'm not used to a quiet library,” she said.
She would also like to increase teen library use, and, remembering back to the classrooms she despised, wants to work collaboratively with area schools to create programs that would decrease drop-out rates.
Connecting with teens is something Anderson has a personal investment in. She has written three books about the topic: “Serving Older Teens,” “Extreme Teens: Library Services to Nontraditional Young Adults” and “Serving Young Teens and 'Tweens.”
“I like to read about teenagers,” she said. “I always thought it would be fun to be a journalist or anthropologist and just learn about people.”
Her favorite author is also a reflection how high she values reading at a young age for enjoyment.
“My favorite author is Paul Danziger,” Anderson said. “He writes for children in a funny way. You don't see a lot of humor in young-adult literature.”
Her own three books are meant for librarians who want help working with teenagers, but they can be good for other fields as well, she believes.
“People don't understand why a 15-year-old is so rowdy when they come to the library after school. Well, it's because they've been cooped up in a classroom all day,” she explains.
Whether its from her own experiences back in the Wellsville library, or just working long enough in libraries, Anderson seems to understand the objective of a public library: The people.
As far as things look now, Anderson will have more than enough time to connect with the people.
When asked how long she sees herself at Seymour Library, she laughs.
“Thirty-seven years to beat out Erskine.”
An avid reader since she was young, Anderson has accepted the position as head librarian at the Seymour Library replacing Stephen Erskine, who recently retired.
Her journey began as a teenager, a part of her life that has remained integral in her life.
Many hours of her adolescence were spent at the public library. Anderson, now 35, admits school was not her forte and rather than reading the assigned material, she would instead spend her time at the library reading the things that interested her.
“Despite my academic apathy, I still liked to learn,” she said. “I would just wander around libraries.”
She grew up in the southern part of New Jersey just outside of Philadelphia. Her parents, however, were originally from Wellsville and the family would spend summers there.
“I had so much free time in the summers in Wellsville,” Anderson recalled. “I credit the David A. Howe Public Library for starting my interest in libraries.”
After high school, Anderson majored in English at Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J., and went on to get her master's degree at Clarion University in western Pennsylvania, for which she now teaches an online course.
Before moving to Auburn, Anderson has spent the last six years as director of the Dover Public Library in Dover, Del. She was already planning on moving to Auburn to be with her boyfriend when the job at Seymour Library opened and everything fell into place.
If she can do for the Seymour Library what she did in Dover, Auburn can expect a forward moving institution. In Delaware, Anderson saw public access to computers triple, a PC reservation system installed, circulation rise 100 percent and the book collection move into the present day.
“We bought multiple copies of current best sellers for instance,” she said. “But that's what people are looking for. When the new 'Harry Potter' came out, we purchased 60 copies and all were on hold before they even arrived.”
She stands firm that a public library should provide the community with the services and materials that reflect the needs of the residents. If there is a large elderly demographic, tax, medical and financial information should be available for them, she said.
“I would like to start computer classes for people who don't know how to use them,” she added.
“There are a lot of databases we get with the Finger Lakes Library System and we could teach them how to use them to find answers - like how to avoid frostbite,” she said laughing as snow fell outside the library.
Getting a feel for the community and what its residents need that they don't have will help Anderson achieve her primary goal of increasing traffic at Seymour Library. Having been used to an average of 1,000 visitors a day in Dover, she said Seymour Library is much quieter.
“I'm not used to a quiet library,” she said.
She would also like to increase teen library use, and, remembering back to the classrooms she despised, wants to work collaboratively with area schools to create programs that would decrease drop-out rates.
Connecting with teens is something Anderson has a personal investment in. She has written three books about the topic: “Serving Older Teens,” “Extreme Teens: Library Services to Nontraditional Young Adults” and “Serving Young Teens and 'Tweens.”
“I like to read about teenagers,” she said. “I always thought it would be fun to be a journalist or anthropologist and just learn about people.”
Her favorite author is also a reflection how high she values reading at a young age for enjoyment.
“My favorite author is Paul Danziger,” Anderson said. “He writes for children in a funny way. You don't see a lot of humor in young-adult literature.”
Her own three books are meant for librarians who want help working with teenagers, but they can be good for other fields as well, she believes.
“People don't understand why a 15-year-old is so rowdy when they come to the library after school. Well, it's because they've been cooped up in a classroom all day,” she explains.
Whether its from her own experiences back in the Wellsville library, or just working long enough in libraries, Anderson seems to understand the objective of a public library: The people.
As far as things look now, Anderson will have more than enough time to connect with the people.
When asked how long she sees herself at Seymour Library, she laughs.
“Thirty-seven years to beat out Erskine.”
