LIbrarian Interview

Malinda Sells has been the librarian since 1977. As far back as I can remember, she has been the stereotype in my mind when I think of "a librarian." The best description of my childhood description of her would be the "rigid guardian of the hall of books." Quite honestly, I've always been slightly scared of her. However, I recently was able to sit down and interview her for my class. I knew going in that my previous analysis was foolishly based on childhood memories, and that the few interactions that I have had with her in my adult life would point to her being more of a regular person. I found out that both descriptions would fit. She is regular person who takes her role as the custodian for knowledge very seriously.

She said her favorite aspect of the job was that it was to server everyone free of charge. She also enjoyed watching the community grow and change through the years.

While most younger patrons want instant access, she says she works hard to bound books that the older patrons feel a need to continue to use. She said it also didn't hurt to have them around to surprise the younger patrons with...in the event of a computer or internet malfunction.

The reference items she feels most compelled to keep updated are the tax codes, medial "advice" sources, North Carolina information, and the general statutes. In looking around the library afterward...I could see this was exactly the case. Budget constraints means she has to focus her funds toward the actual bound copies that will be requested most often...and less on copies that will be ignored to find the answer on NCLive or Google.

Most of the librarians rotate time at the reference desk, so she wears many hats in the library.