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06/12/2024 08:30 AMIt’s not Marian the Librarian’s library anymore. It’s a community center, an electronic research resource, a place to make a craft project, hear an author speak, or see a classic movie.
Elizabeth Reinhart, the new adult services librarian at the Essex Library Association, has put together a Saturday movie program featuring a travel theme for the month of June.
“It’s a great way to use the library. It’s hot outside and it’s summer, and people travel in the summer,” Elizabeth says.
On Saturday, June 15, the library will be showing In Bruges, an adventure caper about what hiding out in the classic Belgian city does for two American hitmen on the lam. On Saturday, June 22, the library will feature an adaptation of the classic James Thurber short story, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which is about a daydreamer who finds himself on a helter-skelter worldwide search for a photo negative.
In August, there will be another movie series featuring films on the Olympics, providing a cinematic companion to the real event taking place in Paris.
As adult services librarian, Elizabeth is also responsible for the wide variety of programs which the library sponsors, from author talks to gardening presentations. Most of the programs feature live speakers, but a number of them are now done electronically and, for some, the library provides access for patrons who have signed up, so they can view the programs at home.
Elizabeth also moderates two of the library’s ongoing book discussion groups. She admits that much of her own reading these days is in preparation for book discussions, but adds that she enjoys reading memoirs when she has time.
In addition to programs and book groups, Elizabeth also works in the collection development, making sure the library has the books which its patrons want to read.
Elizabeth once thought she would like to be a research librarian, but she says much of what research librarians had helped people discover is now much easier to find through internet searches on sites like Google.
However, Elizabeth does point out that there is more to research than simply locating sites.v There is also the question of evaluating the trustworthiness of the information source.
“People need more information literacy, but we have tools to help them at the ready about what makes a valid source,” she says.
Elizabeth, who grew up in Granby, did not start her professional career as a librarian. At the University of Connecticut, she was an undergraduate journalism major.
“Journalism attracted me because I wanted to know how the world worked,” she explains.
Elizabeth started her career as a journalist working for Shore Publishing in Madison, which publishes, among other papers, the Valley Courier. Then she received a master’s degree in international relations at UConn, still with an eye on a career in journalism.
“I thought I would be an international foreign correspondent,” she says
However, Hartford was as far as Elizabeth got. She briefly worked as an aide to Cameron Staples, a former state representative, and then became a press secretary for the Connecticut House of Representatives, responsible for everything from writing press releases and opinion pieces for legislators to arranging press conferences. It was also where she met her husband, Christopher.
Ultimately, after leaving government and spending some six years in public relations, Elizabeth went back to Shore Publishing, first as a freelancer and then as a staff reporter.
Then came the career switch that brought Elizabeth to the Essex Library. It was a move which suited her family obligations and one that also represented her own values.
“After my children were born, I was able to slow down and think about a career that would align with who I was as a person—a lifelong learner, curious, wanting to have a positive social impact. If you think about libraries, they are also closely aligned with First Amendment freedoms, similar to journalism,” she notes.
Elizabeth worked part-time at libraries in Madison and Lyme while getting a master’s degree in library service online from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Advanced degree library programs in the field are often taught online, she explains.
“I wanted a place close enough that I could get there in one day,” she says, “But I guess I would have to spend the night.”
Elizabeth, her husband, and their two children, ages 10 and 13, hike on weekends. She loves the land trust trails in Essex, particularly the Falls River Preserve Trail. On a recent weekend, the family hiked up Bear Mountain in Salisbury in upstate Connecticut. They have also hiked Bear Mountain in New York.
Elizabeth says that walking up the trails is not the biggest challenge for family outings.
“We have to convince the kids to come,” she explains.
The granola bars which the family always has at the top are a big help.
“They’re almost like candy,” she says.