When people hear the word "library" a few things typically come to mind; namely Librarians and books. But the Library is run by people working in many different roles. They're all helping community members with much more than book recommendations. Our series Spend a Day with a Library Worker takes you inside the lives of Library staff in different roles and follows them on a typical workday.
Written by Denise Miller, Adult Materials Selection Librarian, Main Library
In the basement of the Main Library, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes to get new materials into the hands of our customers.
Paula Geglein isn't your typical Librarian. You won't find her out on the floor shelving books or reading to kids at storytime. She is the Juvenile Materials Selection Librarian, one of six selectors who choose new materials for all ages--and in a variety of formats--for the entire Library system. Paula has been with the Library since 2013, and it’s her job to find forthcoming juvenile books that kids will want to read. The goal is to have them ordered in advance of publication so customers can place holds early.
Selectors learn about upcoming books in a variety of ways, including review journals, publisher catalogs, advance reading copies, and customer requests. Guided by the criteria outlined in our Collection Development Policy, Paula will select a juvenile book and then decide on the number of systemwide copies to buy, which is often based on anticipated demand. Once purchase orders are placed with our vendors and the new materials are received, our dedicated staff will then catalog, process, and ship them to a local Branch near you!
On any given day, Paula can be found perusing advanced reader copies of books from publishers, placing orders, and keeping track of everything that's headed out for processing to find a home in the stacks.
Paula brings her past experience as a Children’s Librarian to her position. “One of my favorite aspects of the job is selecting books that children, tweens, and parents might not know about,” she says. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid, opens a new window is really popular, but have you tried New Kid , opens a new windowby Jerry Craft?”
Selectors highlight their recommendations for up-and-coming titles on our weekly Hot Titles, opens a new window feature. Paula also keeps an eye out for trends in book publishing, compiling online booklists about popular children’s book topics--like giraffes, opens a new window, and narwhals, opens a new window, and yetis, opens a new window, oh my!
Paula loves selecting materials to help the Children’s Library and all 40 branches run smoothly, whether they are for teacher collections, programming, storytimes, or Summer Adventure, opens a new window 2019.
When not choosing books (one of her childhood favorites is Charlotte’s Web, opens a new window by E.B. White), she’s hard at work helping to plan Books by the Banks, opens a new window, Cincinnati’s Regional Book Festival. This year it's Saturday, October 26th at the Duke Energy Convention Center. It will feature YA author Laini Taylor and other notable authors.
To learn more about working at the Library and to see current job openings, opens a new window, visit CincinnatiLibrary.org, opens a new window.
Written by Denise Miller, Adult Materials Selection Librarian, Main Library
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