Interview with Rita Schmidt, Assistant Director of the Fort Dodge Public Library

Post date: May 18, 2013 9:34:59 PM

Rita Schmidt – Assistant Director/Reference Librarian at the Fort Dodge Public Library

· How did you get into the library field/what made you want to become a librarian?

o Considered becoming librarian when younger (12-13ish), went to college majoring in pharmacy, decided hated science, took class to determine interests, history-->librarian was a field available for history majors so she decided that history would be a good thing to go into.

· Where did you earn your Masters degree?

o University of Iowa

· What was your specialization/concentration and why?

o Public Libraries – took a lot of classes in children’s and reference services

· What is your favorite job or task at this particular library?

o Reference aspect of the job/helping people find information, Collection development (jokes that she like to spend money, but seriously says that building the collections are a lot of fun)

· What opportunities do you have for advancement in your position?

o is already assistant director, doesn’t really want to advance

o not as many opportunities to work directly with the public as a director

· Have you ever dealt with censorship challenges at your library? If so, what were the outcomes or what procedures do you have in place to deal with it?

o Have a “request for reconsideration form”, have had a few requests, sometimes move JF to YA, sometimes goes to the board – never have had a book removed, recent one was about children in a garden (Harvest Baptist Church has a strong presence, but the board looks at each case individually)

· What sort of child-specific programming does your library have?

o Lori does children’s programming – story times 4 six-week sessions, adventures in the summer – performers, story tellers, puppeteers, jugglers, Mad Science, magicians, etc., summer reading programs birth-high school (teen is 10 weeks), open houses with crafts and games, toddler story time starting in the fall, tours for pre-school-1^st grade

· Do you offer classes or programs for the public on new technologies such as e-readers or skill advancement such as resume writing?

o no, don’t have the staff for it but have other places in the community who does that – salvation army, senior citizen center, work force development office, community college

· Are there teen-specific programs to encourage their coming into the library more often?

o Summer reading program 10 weeks during the summer, sometimes teen reading during October

· What is the mission statement of your library? Do you have specific goals or focuses?

o Might be in policy book? Up to director as to how much to pursue that

· How well would you say that your library tries to stick to the rules and principles of the ALA and of the ALA Bill of Rights?

o Very well. Try very hard to uphold confidentiality, not censoring things, etc. Have a balanced collection, both sides of issues, etc.

Conclusion:

The Fort Dodge library has a lot more opportunities than the smaller libraries like Hudson, Lake City, and Rockwell City that I’m used to have. With so many other organizations and places for the community to look to, the library can focus on just providing a nice place to read and look up information versus also trying to be a community center. Rita seemed like a very nice person, in a similar predicament to mine as I originally wanted to be a speech pathologist but ended up turning to library school and using my English major as a vehicle to take me there.