When did you start working at EPL and what do you here?
I started at EPL in February 2023 and I catalog library items.
Earliest memory of being in a library?
I remember thumbing through the card catalog at Louis Latzer Public Library in Highland, Illinois, then asking for help from the nice person behind what seemed to be a very tall desk.
Favorite book genre/favorite book/favorite author
I mostly read literary fiction, but I have a soft spot for classic hardboiled/noir crime fiction. My favorite areas of nonfiction include American history, social issues, pop culture, and the history of medicine. So if I were to champion one underappreciated author, it would be F. González-Crussí, the essayist and pathologist. My second choice would be the crime writer Jim Thompson, the “Dimestore Dostoevsky.”
Would you rather only be able to whisper or only able to shout?
<whispers>Whisper, definitely whisper.</whispers>
What is your favorite aspect of working at the library?
I really enjoy helping patrons find the resources they need, but being surrounded by those resources runs a close second.
What’s your favorite word?
Though at times I apparently favor some really short ones, I don’t have a favorite word. But this question puts me in mind of one of my SIUE professors, Jean Kittrell, who favored “borborygmi” (which Merriam-Webster defines as “intestinal rumbling caused by moving gas”) for its onomatopoeic quality.
How do you like to spend your time outside of work?
Eating, sleeping, reading, watching movies and TV shows, and occasionally perambulating up and down the Madison County Trail System.
Would you rather talk like Yoda or breathe like Darth Vader for the rest of your life?
Those are my only options? Should I be happy that Jar-Jar Binks wasn’t a choice? Okay, as much as I enjoy Fun with Syntax, it’s the Vader Respirator for me.
Why should people visit the library?
Because there’s a world of information here for their education, entertainment, and edification. They should also chat up the people who work here, as they’re quite interesting, as well!
Unusual or fun fact about yourself
I was a contestant on the TV show Jeopardy! a few years ago.