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Hi hello my name is Israel Favela. I am branch manager for Harris County Public Library here at the Casino City branch. Today is 19 November 2020 and I am interviewing Christina, Christina, introduce yourself. Hi my name is Cristina Thompson. I am the branch manager for the

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Clear Lake City County Freeman branch. I am 44 years old. All right, so today we're gonna talk about being a librarian. What does it leave for Harris County Public Library? Okay. Um so tell me about your memory. So visiting a library as a child. Oh okay

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so I grew up uh on Long Island in new york and the library I went to was connect public library and my biggest memory was it was always a big thing when I was younger. The number of books we were allowed to check out was a

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number of age that we work. Um So you know when you turn five and you can check out five books and we turn six then you're allowed to check out six books because you were responsible for them. So it was sort of tied in with a

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milestone of getting older so kind of added something extra to your your birthday time. So that's probably my biggest memory was you know I mean it sounds silly but that's that's what we did. Yeah awesome. Um So how long have you worked for Harris County Public

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Library? I've been with the system for 14 years at various different branches. Yeah tell me a little bit more about the different locations you worked out. I actually, so I started with the county as a Children's librarian here at the Freeman branch and I was here

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um I don't really treat 2.5 years. Um And then I moved to the North Channel branch on the east side of town and I was an assistant manager there when I was there for Probably eight ISH years. And while they're at that time um the manager

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of the North Channel branch also managed the Colina Park Library. So that meant that staff oftentimes would split between the two. So while I was assistant manager there um I was at North on most of the time but then I would also work at Colina Park

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quite a bit and then when the manager for North Channel retired I was promoted to manager at North Channel. So I was in that role there for a couple of years and then I came back home I guess here to the clear like branch as a

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branch manager. So it feels very I'm in a very full circle moment right now this is where I started my career with H. C. P. L. I. Campbell one way and now I'm back here. Yeah it was the same the same building. All right remembering. Yeah

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so the building I'm in now the Has been here this particular building since 2004. So when I started whenever it was 14 years ago from now um it was at this in this building and actually think only been open about a year. So when I worked

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for Freemans only been at this particular building? All right, so did you have a favorite book as a child? And what about a favorite book when you were a teenager? Um you know, so and this is as a former Children's library and you think I would

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remember all these great picture books, but as a child, I don't really remember reading a lot of picture books. I'm sure I read a lot of picture books. There are a lot of kind of beginner readers. But when I was, I mean what I really devoured

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when I started reading chapter books was babysitters club. Um and I had at home like I didn't go to the library for those, I bought those because I would have like a whole shelf full of them and I would reread them constantly, especially the super specials.

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I love the super specials, but I had like a pro uh babysitters club. So that sustained me pretty heavily for quite a few years. And uh then I guess as a teenager, I guess middle grade was a big fan of green Gables and I used to

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reread the anti green Gables series every few years. So that's a very librarian answer in a green Gables. But you know, she speaks to the heart of a lot of, a lot of librarians for sure. Yeah. Um so is there a librarian who had a particularly

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strong influence on your life and what did you learn from them? Yeah, so the very first library that I worked at was a high school in Austin um when I was working on my degree and the librarian there and Ray is um she's still the librarian

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I want to be when I grow up, she's kind of the best library and that I know she really kind of set the stage for me, just how I wanted to be professionally. Uh She's trying to kind of describe her, she's just she's such an empathetic

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person and but she really, she loved her job, but she really also really loved and respected the kids and I think that was the biggest lesson that I learned because it was at high school and so teenagers can be challenging. Um and she would completely completely

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admit when they were, when they could be challenging. Um but you know, she also just really respected them as individuals, of people, and the kids really responded to that as well because you know, teens can sense that about you. Um and so I think really learning

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that lesson and that's how I try to treat everybody that comes in, whether they're, you know, an infant up to the senior, you really have to respect them individually as a person. Um that was probably the biggest lesson that I got from her and she was

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just a fun person to work with and just a really outstanding mentor, she had confidence in me before, I had confidence in me. So uh so I love her, she works for Austin public library now and I had a chance to see her uh the last

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time we had a texas library conference and I hadn't seen her in years, we kept in contact, I haven't physically seen her and it was one of those like no time had gone back, she's she's a bighearted warm person anyway, but it was really, it was

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really fantastic. So I actually I think of her often and when I come across the challenging situation I think what what would she do, how would she handle it? She's a good guy post for me. That's good, did you have a like a formal mentorship, you

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kind of just saw the way she would interact with people and I think I want to be like that. No it wasn't formal, it's just you know she was my boss, it was just the two of us in the high school library, so we spent a

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lot of time together, so it wasn't formal mentor but uh but she really took that on, you know naturally. And what's funny is I know to other people who worked with her who are also really fantastic librarians, one of whom ended up working at Freeman with

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me afterwards randomly out of the blue uh who now works for another systems you worked for here is kind of for quite a while and she's also an incredible librarian. And a friend of mine who is a school library in Austin in Austin as well. So

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she's one of these people who just sort of touches well and she just really connect with them and she had that ability to just bring out the best in you and you just wanted to rise up to what she expected of you, which she thought you

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were you wanted to be that person, It's awesome. Yeah. Um So when and why did you decide to become a library professional? Um I had graduated college, I was an english major and uh I was lucky to get a job with my degree which can be

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tricky sometimes for that degree. I was working in marketing and I actually I I liked it, I didn't not like it. Um I didn't mind being in the business world and it was it was fine. And I had a friend who was in the library science

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program and um I remember very distinctly we were hanging out and she was just telling me about the classes that she was taking and it was it was sort of a light bulb moment. And I think the very next day I started researching library school programs

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and I applied the next time the the deadlines came around and so within a year I was in a program. It was very odd because I had never thought about it before then. So it was literally like this light bulb moment and like, oh, that's what

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I'm supposed to do. That makes so much sense to me. Those classes are interesting. What you can do with. It's an interesting, so, so even though I went to the library as a child and I actually in high school, I was a library aide. I just

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never, It never dawned on me until my mid 20s and you're out working in the world and you get to know who you are a little bit more. Yeah, I think that's a recurring theme amongst people in our profession. We kind of stumble upon. Oh my

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God, like this is, this is awesome. We do great work. Yeah, it's a second career for a lot of people, if you see a little bit more people who kind of go straight through school to be librarians, but when I was in a library school program,

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almost everybody had come to it as a second or third career, which is great because then everybody came to with all these different experiences. Um So I think that brings a lot of knowledge into the, into the field. Um So next question is, what advice would

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you give back to younger you like when you first started out your library career? Um I guess I would say that what would I say, I guess I would say don't try to really plan anything and that the way you expect it's going to be, it's

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not going to be that way and that's okay and that's probably for the better. Uh you know when I was in library school at first I thought I was going to be a school librarian because that's the program my friend was in, and then if I

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thought you had to get a teaching certificate and I started looking into, it wasn't for me, and then I thought I wanted to academic library and then I took a class, I was like, no, that's not for me, I'll do public, but I want to do

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adult, definitely want to do kids. And then I just got hired as a Children's librarian and I loved it. Um and then I thought this is what I want to do forever. God, I never want to do management, and then I ended up in management. So

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I think uh and I love it. And so I think that what I would tell myself is just to be open to opportunities, don't try to box in what you think you're going to want because things have changed so much, but even personally, you're gonna change

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so to give yourself the opportunity to grow, to say yes to opportunities. Uh even if it's scary. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. Um how is being a very professional different than when you thought it was gonna be okay. Well um it's I don't think I expected it

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to be as emotionally fulfilling and as emotionally challenging as it can be, you know, I think people have this image of librarians as it's just a very um uh you know it's all just about facts or things or just knowledge and you know, that's you know,

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that's a part of it, but especially in the public library world, it's such a a wholehearted approach. So I don't I don't think I was expecting to be as emotionally invested in the profession. Um and the work that I do as I am, that was I

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think the biggest the biggest shock, the happiest moments in the saddest moments can all happen in your work field and you know family and friends who were in just sort of the business world and I said in the business world it wasn't it wasn't like that,

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so that was a big shock to me. Um this is kind of related, but what is the most rewarding about the work that you do? I think that's what it is. I mean when you are able to make those individual connections with patrons, you know, whether

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they're long time patrons or just like a page and you just do that one time when they are able to kind of open up to you and you they let you see a part of them, you know make that connection, that's really the most rewarding part.

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Yeah. Um So tell us about the most challenging and or funniest moments you've experienced as a library professional. Mhm. I mean, I don't know about funniest but um I mean, I think this is the most challenging, I think I really experienced um you know, there's all

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kinds of hard days sometimes working with the public and in hard situations when you're working with the public, but those hard days and situations always have an end eventually, you know, whether it's a customer interaction that's particularly difficult, that will end eventually, whether it's sort of

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a long standing uh controversy at your branch over a program that you're holding, you know, eventually that's going to die down. Um So I I feel like right now is really like with everybody is just so difficult because you don't know, things are changing when things

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are going to end, when you can connect back and it's a matter of balancing connecting with the community, but also um you know, for your staff and kind of really trying to take care of them during this time and try and take care of yourself, so

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it's balancing all these different things and it's sort of the unknown. Um I find that to be the most challenging things that can't be like, well when, you know, this will be over in a week. Well no, you know, it's not going to be, so this

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is really, this has really been very challenging, I think. Yeah, I mean, I find that I miss a lot of our usual whether they were fun and challenging to help uh during Covid, it's like, oh, I mean, I miss these like really involved interactions, like what

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involved, like my friends interviews. Uh huh. So I think things are changing for us and I it'll be interesting to see where things go. Um Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I'm an optimist at heart, so I think it's all going to come back. I really, I really

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do, but I think it's going to be, you know, a lot of people get get into public libraries, they like helping people and we're still helping people. But it's just a different relationship that you're having with them and you know, whether it's over the phone or

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you know, reference, it's just different when it's not that face to face. So, um I think that's really been challenging for me and for a lot of the staff members as well. Yeah. Um so can you tell me about elaborate patron? You'll always remember. Um I

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mean, there's been a lot um, one that I think about and I don't want to share her story too much. You know, uh when you work in a public library, people share all kinds of stuff in their life with you that maybe they don't feel comfortable

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sharing with other people. And I do remember beside a different, at a different branch and there was a customer came in and she had only come in a few times, like I would recognize her but she didn't have long involved conversations with us, but after there

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was a political thing that happened, uh there was an election that happens and reaction to it. She was upset about it, but she came in to talk to us about it because it was very upsetting to her and she felt very attacked and so she started

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crying and then I started crying. But what really struck me about that is that we created a space that she felt safe enough to to be vulnerable with us in that way um That she felt that she could share her fears and her frustrations. Um Just

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it was a really kind of a powerful moment and so I was really grateful that even though we knew her a little bit, she had such regard for the environment that was created there. Um So I think it's sort of it always reminds me that you

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don't know what space you're creating for the people who who come in, you know and the influence and effect that you can have on them. Even if you don't see it, it's still happening, you're still laying on the ground work even if you don't know and

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it means something, it can mean something very meaningful to somebody that even if you don't get a chance to see the impact that you're having on them. Yeah. Um So of the changes you've seen at your branch which do you feel most impacted? I made your

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day to day duties easier or more effective. Well, um so pre covid, because I feel like right now everything is so up in the air and changing, but one thing that started happening at my branch Um and other branches to a couple of years prior was

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especially from what I remember when I was here 14 years ago. um just the way that we open up even more to the community and invite them in in a way to meet them where they are. So we started having the food bank, school lunches here.

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We started doing more outreach with a local domestic violence shelter and all these other ways that we're trying to welcome in and reached populations that are maybe not the, I'm pretty quick like another traditional, what people assume would be a library user. Um So it's one

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of those things that could be very challenging, but but so much more emotionally rewarding than it was before. So we were really moving in that direction and I think once everything kind of settles, we'll start to see even even more of that. Mhm. And that's not

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just at this branch, I've seen that, you know, throughout the system in the last 14 years, that's been a big change that I've seen from when I started to now, lots of it's not just as other branches are doing that as well, where they really kind

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of not just opening their arms to welcome in, but taking specific steps to welcome in the different communities instead of just saying we're open to all like really actively inviting them in or meeting them where they are. Um Some what is the biggest change in libraries?

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What do you see in the future for libraries? I think it's going to be continuing of that. I think there's gonna be more um at I think what you're gonna see in libraries or library are gonna respond even more to who their community are and that

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they have started to do that, but engage more in conversation with them or really try to to meet them where they need to be instead of libraries, kind of prescribing what they think the community needs. Um So, you know, whether that's in terms of the type

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of programs that they offer or the types of material that they have, um I think you're gonna start to see libraries reflect even more back to the communities that they are. Yeah, I think it's gonna be much more of a two way a two way street,

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you know, instead of like this, I don't know, this industry are ideal up on high. I think it's going to be even more because I think that's what people are really craving in the world. Uh So as you know, this interview is part of the celebrating

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the centennial of Harris County Public library. Um So I'm kind of wonder whether the librarians 100 years ago. Uh I've heard what their future is gonna be like. So we have all these ideas of what we could do in the future. I excited and curious about

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what our second centennial is gonna be like. Yeah and the way level services will have changed by them, I think it's going to be different but there's gonna be some things that always stay the same you know and I think it's that you know heart for

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service is always going to be there, you know wanting to share information is always going to be there, wanting to provide access and resources is always going to be there. It's just I think how they How we present that help the community get there, that's what's

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going to change and evolve because society changes and evolves. You know, society 100 years ago or 50 or 10, 15 years ago was very different. So you know we just I think one thing the libraries have been really good at the last few years is really

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kind of moving along with the times and a little bit ahead of that the way the times might be sometimes and change is not the always the easiest thing for librarians but I think there's been a big learning curve the last few years and I get

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really excited, you know, so I am the manager at a bigger branch and I've been in the system a fair number of years and I've seen a fair number of people go through or are currently going through library school to be library professionals and I get

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really excited when I talked to them because the, you know, they're so far we're thinking and they have a big heart and they're really focused on service to the community, so um I like I said I'm an eternal optimist, I really have a lot of hope

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in the future, I think it's, I think it's going to be wonderful, I think it's going to change and it's going to be fantastic. So as an older person right now uh in the profession I'm really, I'm really excited by what the younger professionals are bringing

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in and I feel like I learned so much from them, there's so much that I don't know that they know that they kind of instinctually seem to grasp onto, so I think it's going to be incredible. Okay, well on that happy note, thank you again for

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sitting discussion about our our world as it may call it. Uh thank you again, have anything for you, Israel Okay, Yes, well we can stop the recording now. Um