Celia White, 38, Adult services coordinator, St. Petersburg Main Library.
By ELLEN MOSES
Published October 5, 2003
Is this full- or part-time for you?
Full-time. I work 40 hours a week.
What kind of hours do you work?
Well, it varies from week to week, kind of depending on when I have programs going on, but usually my days off are Sundays and Mondays.
What are your primary job responsibilities?
Well, as adult services coordinator, that basically means I do all the adult programming. I plan book clubs, I plan to have writers come in and lead discussion groups on how to write books. The other part of my job is I'm in charge of the circulation department here, which has a staff of 17 people. My job is to schedule them, make sure things are running smoothly.
How long have you worked for the library?
It was a year in July. Before that, I worked for a private (research) corporation in Clearwater. I was there for 11 years. This is my first public library job.
What kind of training do you need to do this?
You have to have a master's (degree) in library science, which I got from USF. And my bachelor's degree is in English, so that's been kind of useful as far as knowing about literature.
How did you get interested in library science?
I've always been attracted to libraries. Growing up, we went to the library every week, and it was a big part of my life.
What is your favorite thing about the job?
Well, it would have to be a combination of being around all of the books and working with people. When new books come in, I'm immediately drawn to them and want to look at them. But it's also the connections you make with the patrons.
What kinds of things do you do in the circulation department?
I don't order the new books; technical services does that. But they send the books out to us, and we get them ready to put on the shelves. And, of course, we shelve them; my staff is in charge of that. And if there have been any requests for them, we make sure they get to the right patrons.
Does your department deal with just books?
No, we have DVDs, we have videos, audiotapes, music CDs and the books on CD are becoming really popular.
What is the hardest thing about your job?
Probably the hardest thing for me is that I'm not super good at time management, and so if I had three extra hours in the day, I'd be really happy. There are actually no drawbacks to the job. I always walk out of here happy and in a good mood.
Are there any perks of your job?
Well, obviously access to the books is a perk. If a new book comes in and there's nobody else waiting for it, I can check it out. I am a big reader, absolutely. Probably the biggest perk in this position is that I have the best staff in the whole world. They are just really hard-working, and everybody gets along with each other.
Any new books you'd recommend?
Recently, I read the Life of Pi, and that was a great book. And I also just read the Lovely Bones, which I didn't think I was going to enjoy, but I really did. And I'm trying to read more nonfiction now because I have a tendency to read only fiction.
Do you have any favorite authors?
Yes. I love Jane Langton and Dorothy Sayers, as well as J.R.R. Tolkien. Langton and Sayers both write mysteries and Tolkien writes fantasy, but those are my two favorite genres.
How much money do you make?
I'll give you the range for my position. It runs from about $33,000 to $50,000, depending on your years of experience.
What would your dream job be?
Oh, to be a librarian, absolutely. I have my dream job.
