Yeah, We Were Teens Once

We weren't born with buns in our hair, cat-eye glasses on our faces, and sensible shoes on our feet. Even after our first library job, most of us never adopted that look (except for the sensible shoes), but we’re not opposed to it, either. We all came to the profession from various backgrounds and generations which is what gives us strength; there is a vastness to our collective knowledge. So what are our backgrounds? What pushed all of us to libraries, and many of us to go on to grad school to become librarians? Well, we were once very much like you (gasp!), and we each have our own story. Some of us went to Woodstock during the "Summer of Love" and others saw Radiohead when they were still billed the "opening band." Take a look at our pictures, read our bios, and stop by the Adult Services Reference desk or Youth Services Reference desk to say, “Hi.” We look forward to talking to you because we do indeed like people more than books and we’ll be glad to help you with whatever you are looking for.

Adelle

I went to high school in the mid nineties. Although it was only ten years ago, it was quite a different world.

Music:
The rise of “grunge bands,” like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, chopped down the "hair bands” like Poison and Mötley Crüe. Nirvana’s first single, Smells Like Teen Spirit, became the anthem of my generation. This song and video pushed the band into the mainstream and influenced teens everywhere: we began wearing torn jeans and flannel shirts; we listened to indie bands like the Meat Puppets and Leadbelly; and many of us began viewing the world in a different way.

Technology:
If you said the word “technology” to me when I was a teen, I would assume you were referring to my wood-working class. I didn’t use the Internet, although it did exist. I had one friend that was online, but I didn’t quite understand what all the hype was about and didn’t care to learn. It wasn’t until college that I became completely aware of the World Wide Web. I made it through my teen years with no email, IM, and no “Googling!” We also didn’t use cell phones. In fact, the only cell phones I remember seeing were extremely big, not the cool, tiny devices of today. We relied on our home phones and did so a lot. Atari had taken a back seat to Nintendo, but I was never a big gamer.

Fashion:
Jeans and flannels filled our hampers. Big hair was out, but many girls sported the “Rachel,” a haircut named after the very popular character, Rachel Green, from the very popular sitcom, Friends. I can proudly say, “I was not one of them.”

For Fun:
I spent the majority of my time hanging out with my friends, listening to music, and contemplating the vast universe. I did watch TV (gasp!), but never in excess. My favorite show was Seinfeld (and still is today). My generation was the first to be introduced to the animated dufus, Homer Simpson, as well as the invasion of “Reality TV” with the airing of the first season of The Real World on MTV. I read for pleasure occasionally, while constantly devouring all assigned reading from my English teachers.

Me a Librarian?
"Never," would have been my response as a teen. In fact, I was constantly kicked out of my high school library. However, I always found my way back in. And so it goes.

Eileen

This picture was taken in Florida on my honeymoon. I was 19 years old. We drove from New York City down through the south in an old Hudson that had belonged to my husband’s grandfather. It was an adventure trying to keep up with the speed limit. That old car shook.

This seems to be the only “teen” picture of me that I could find. I didn’t have a family that took random photos. We usually had our picture taken for major life events such as weddings, first communion, graduation etc.

Gary

That powder blue tuxedo that I wore to my Junior Prom – how 70’s! Maybe it was because our theme was “Color My World?”

Nowadays, what I remember most about being a teenager in the late 70’s and early 80’s are vague images now that I am older than dirt. Here is what I remember:

Edmund Dantes’ exciting escape after being imprisoned for years by a man who wanted his girl and the thrilling, diabolical plan he uses to seek revenge and ruin the live of his adversary. [The Count of Monte Cristo]

Visiting Shangri-La, a magical place high in the Himalaya’s where people seem to live forever. [Lost Horizon]

A girl named Scout and her brother Jem trying to make contact with the reclusive Boo Radley. [To Kill a Mockingbird]

Ponyboy and his gang of greasers rumbling with the socs until it all goes too far and Johnny is in real trouble. [The Outsiders]

Janet

This is a picture of me in my sister’s wedding, November 23, 1963. She was married the day after President Kennedy was shot. I was a junior in high school and heard the news about the assassination in my Spanish class.

That was the same year that I read Life with Picasso by Francoise Gilot, his mistress, and was scolded by my boss at the library because she thought it was too risqué for teens to read. At my library all of the sex books were shelved behind the reference librarians and if you wanted one, you had to ask them to hand it to you. I told them I needed it for a friend. She never let on that I was probably the umpteenth teen who came with that excuse.

Even though I read like a fiend and loved libraries, I didn’t want to be a librarian. I wanted to be something glamorous like a poet or a journalist or a writer and I thought life as a librarian would put an end to sex—a pretty awful thought when you are 16! I overcame that fear and went to library school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Libraries changed my life and I am happy that I can do the same for others.

Jen

I grew up in north-central Pennsylvania in the mid-80s when Guns-n-Roses and The Cure ruled and our nation was governed by the first George Bush. The Internet? We'd never heard of it. We witnessed Reaganomics, Tiananmen Square, and the rise of AIDS, but were somewhat unaware of their significance. I like to attribute the brain-freeze to numerous perms and copious amounts of hairspray that seeped into my skull as seen in this photo from my senior prom.

Why did I become a librarian? I like reading (The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice was one of my favorites at that time) and discovering new bits of information. Also, I like that I can make someone's life a little better by supplying them with reliable health information or materials to help them finish their research paper. In short, I wanted a career that I enjoyed going to in the morning and one that made me feel good about myself at the end of the day. To quote Lloyd Dobler from "Say Anything,"

I don't want to sell anything, buy anything or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought or processed, or repair anything sold, bought or processed. You know, as a career -- I don't want to do that.

If you haven't seen this movie and want a sense of what my teen world was like (or how I like to remember it), check out this movie, "Pretty in Pink," or "Heathers" at the library.

Joyce

I grew up near Cleveland, Ohio. When I was little, my neighborhood seemed pretty safe for kids so I biked or walked alone to the local branch library. Children could only borrow 4 items at a time so I selected my books thoughtfully.

At first, I liked biographies best - the lives of the saints and stories about Pocahontas and Native American Indian life. Later, fictional characters like Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and Jane Eyre grabbed my attention. Summer reading lists truly challenged me! As hard as I tried, I could never check off all the books on the lists.

I think the first book that touched my emotional core was Old Yeller. I cried uncontrollably whenever that dog got hurt! One summer during my early teens I reveled in Tolkien's Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Those books let me enter another world, where the characters and settings were as real as the author's talent and my fertile imagination allowed them to be. In high school, I remember plowing through Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. Incredibly, I began to relish it and was sorry when it ended. Today, I still enjoy biographies, historical fiction and fantasy.

Throughout my life, I've wanted to be a writer, an actress, a doctor, a speech therapist.... I only considered a library career much later (card catalogs intimidated me!) Technology and the works of authors like Jorge Louis Borges and Eudora Welty brought me back to the library in the 21st century. My current job offers variety and countless opportunities to learn while I help people. I'm very lucky to work here!

Larry

Not long after this photo was taken I grew a beard and have not seen my hairless chin since then. I hardly recognize myself. Yet, it brings back memories of the free spirited and turbulent sixties in Rochester, NY. A time when I was traveling throughout NY state performing as a drummer in a funk band called the Roadrunners.

The path to becoming a librarian began with my interests in history, archeology, art and music. Being a musician, I have played in many bands, created multi-media art and sculpture in wood, leather, clay and stained glass, and found inspiration and enjoyment in listening to classical and jazz music. In the 1980’s I began collecting antique furniture, drawings, collectibles, 15 th century book leaves, fine book bindings, and manuscripts.

All these interests pointed the way to my future as a librarian, although I never previously thought about or imagined I would become a librarian. My first year employed at the library convinced me that becoming a librarian was the ideal profession for a person with my interests. After 2 years of graduate school, I found what I was looking for: a rewarding and fulfilling career at the Tompkins County Public Library. Where else can you learn something every day, continuously meet and help many people, be surrounded by a vast amount of knowledge, music, art, and have access to information from around the world. It’s all so cool. I am a lucky guy.

Patricia & Friend

Here I am with my pal Schenley, a Boston Terrier who was with me until I was 26! He actually moved to this area with me and a group of recently graduated Master of Science in Education students from Richmond College.  Our project was to have a summer camp and then open a free school in this lovely area.  We did both and it was very exciting to accomplish our goals. In the photo that you see, I was about to see Diana Ross and the Supremes in concert at a hotel in Miami, Florida. My dad got  tickets for us and this was a birthday present for my 17th and a graduation gift.  As a teen and well into my adult life and midlife, I loved music of all kinds, soul, rock and roll, folk, jazz and classical.  In high school I belonged to  the Melody Singers, a choral group. Although I don’t sing much now, I think it would be fun to join a choral group again. Besides music, I read mostly non- fiction materials.  History and current events were of interest to me.  Times were troubling then as they are now. What helps me deal with tough times now is to read fiction and poetry!

I don’t have a little dog around anymore but some day I might get another one if my cats don’t mind.   

Rosie

I grew up a shy farm girl in Liberty, NY. Most of my free time was spent reading and working in my high school library. I was blessed with an extraordinary high school librarian. I am a librarian today because of her support and influence. Of course, I was a member of the library club. The highlight of our year was an annual trip a New York City where we saw a show, ate in a fancy restaurant, shopped and visited museums.

Liberty is in the foothills of the Catskills, in what was once called the "Borscht Belt." Many of the big hotels, Grossingers, the Concord, Kutcher’s, were located there. Lots of summer bungalow colonies, camps, and Monticello raceway were also located in the area. Many big name actors and comedians got their start performing in these hotels. Every summer the small towns were busy and crowded with visitors. There was a lot going on with many interesting people traveling through the area. This is also where Woodstock took place in the summer of ‘69. I had just finished my first year of college. You can well imagine “the shy farm girl” at Woodstock.

Truman Capote wrote In Cold Blood and Betty Friedan introduced us to the Feminine Mystique. The Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann was a scandalous novel at the time. There was an infusion of bands from England with music by the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and the Doors. We listened to Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, and Janice Joplin. Twiggy modeled the mini skirt. On television we watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon Sonny and Cher, and The Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday nights.

It was a very exciting and scary time to be young. We had the Cuban Missile Crisis and were in the middle of the cold war with Russia, the Vietnam War and the assassinations of President Kennedy, his brother, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. Vietnam and the draft had a huge influence on the decisions we made. At the same time we had peace marches, the civil rights movement, and new freedoms. We felt empowered and that our actions would make a positive difference in the world.

Sarah

I grew up in central New York during the mid-1980s. I never had the 80s big hair, although my sister did and would put so much hairspray in her bangs that she would have to wash her bangs after school. I remember seeing a music CD for the first time in high school and grew up listening to cassettes of REM, U2, the Cure, the Clash, and the Sex Pistols (and yes, to this day I am a Sex Pistols fan and have a cat named Sid after Sid Vicious).

I literally lived in a library in my hometown, where my parent’s house was attached to the local public library. So, since the age of five, I have never used a library like a normal person would. I usually grabbed books after the library was closed, and read a lot as a child. As a teen, I didn’t read that much, but I did like Christopher Pike mysteries that came out in the mid to late 80s. I still like mysteries and suspense things – books and movies and love 80s horror movies. These days I read a lot – almost a hundred books a year – and love being a librarian because I get to order fiction books for the library, help people find good things to read, and solve people’s questions at the reference desk.

By the way – I still have my prom dress and still think it is pretty.

Tamara

New York City was my hometown. I grew up on the lower east side, now the chic SoHo and East Village. As a teenager I roamed the Village (Greenwich, that is), bought beads to make my own earrings, sat in coffee shops (smoked and played bridge), and went to movie houses where French New Wave films were shown. I was very hip, though never a hippie.

My first library experience was at the Tompkins Square Library (prophetic?). I was scared to ask for anything so discovered the Nancy Drew books all by myself.

I remember: John Glenn, America’s first man orbiting the earth during my geometry class; a friend buying me my first Beatles 45 rpm “I want to hold your hand” for my birthday and music and dancing changing forever; buying the first pantyhose in a small shop on 59th St. (“with Lycra, a revolutionary product”). I also remember watching the Kennedy assassination and funeral, over and over until it finally sank in.

I don’t know what made me apply to Library School. Probably my mother, who thought a library would be a nice, quiet place to work where I could read books and not have to talk (I was very shy and had a speech problem). My first job was as a reference librarian where I was either on the phone or answering questions face to face.

Today I use my early love of cinema and music to good advantage. I buy all the adult audio-visual materials - the dvds, cds and audiobooks. It’s a great job!