Where are you from originally and/or currently?

I grew up between Mesa and Tucson, but spent many happy summers in our family cabin in Pinetop. I knew from age 8 that I wanted to end up in the White Mountains, but it turned out to be a long and meandering path: four years in Bemidji, Minnesota, inspired by Thoreau’s encouragement to go to the woods and “live deliberately”; one year teaching high school English in Bayfield, Colorado; one year as a graduate student in the reference department at the University of Arizona; 17 years as a school librarian for Green Fields Country Day School in Tucson; three years as a Senior Children’s Librarian for the Pima County Public Library and seven years as the Director of Library and Archives for the Arizona Historical Society. In order to be near my grandchildren, I moved to San Diego and was fortunate to work for four years as a librarian in their new downtown Central Library Special Collections department which included the Wangenheim Rare Book Room, the California history archives, and the genealogy research center. I lived on Moonlight Beach in Encinitas and my desert soul loved being so close to the ocean. I took early retirement in order to move to Show Low to care for my elderly mother. I feel very lucky to have found a new library home in the White Mountain Campus library. 

What is your educational background?

I have a BA from ASU with a major in English and minors in history and the classics. My BS in Secondary Education is from Bemidji (MN) State University. I attended the University of Arizona to earn my Masters in Library Science and a Reading Specialist certification for grades K-12.

What do you love doing the most in your work? 

Connecting the right reader with the right book at the right time, an inspiration taken from S.R. Ranganathan, the founder of library science in India. In 1931 he proposed five laws: 

1. Books are for use.

2. Every person his or her book.

3. Every book its reader.

4. Save the time of the reader.

5. A library is a growing organism.

Since libraries truly are growing organisms and have moved so far into the digital age, I suppose I would now say I love most connecting the right library user with the right book/ database/ information at the right time. 

If you were to take a course in something, what would it be? 

I am hoping to take a course in yoga here at NPC once I feel fully trained in the library. Long ago I was certified as a yoga teacher at the Kripalu Institute for Yoga in Massachusetts. I would love to establish a yoga practice with a local group.

What are your favorite things to do/eat/read?

I love yoga, kayaking, meditating, and hiking….and if I can do those things with my two grandkids, I’m even happier. 

My favorite foods are Indian, Thai and Mexican and I am continually on the lookout for vegan/vegetarian recipes that are spicy and based on whole foods. 

I enjoy reading poetry, historical fiction, biographies, books on the history and geology of the Southwest, and books on comparative religions and the creation stories of different cultures, and I still enjoy dipping into good children’s and YA literature.

What goal are you dreaming about completing? 

Currently I am hoping to raft the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon with my two sons and my two teenage grandchildren. However, If the Colorado River continues to be depleted from this never-ending drought, Plan B is to hike the John Muir trail with them in the Sierras. They live just two hours from the trailhead.