Q: Who are you?
A: Chelsey Roos
Q: What are you?
A: Children’s librarian, Aquarius, INFJ, registered Democrat, card-carrying atheist, she/her, lawful neutral, rogue/bard, general tall person, mildly weird.
Q: Where are you?
A: Bay Area, California. I currently work for Alameda County Library at the Castro Valley branch, which serves an unincorporated county area of about 60,000 people.
Q: When are you?
A: Musically? The 1980s. Stylistically? The early aughts. Mentally? The past, reviewing all my mistakes in a way that’s definitely healthy.
Q: What are your credentials?
A: I started working in libraries in 2012 and got my MLIS in 2017. Before that, I taught creative writing and freshman composition and got my MFA in creative writing in 2010. Before that, I baby-sat and worked a series of odd jobs and got my BA in English in 2007. Before that, I was a child with promise who had not yet squandered her potential.
Q: Why are you doing this?
A: I love working in libraries, but it can also be strangely isolating, especially if you’re part of a very small youth services staff (sometimes of just one!), or one of the only folks in your organization who really likes to dig deep on the whys, the hows, and the research. Burn-out is really common in our field, and I feel like one way to combat that is to reach out and share what we know, what we’ve experienced, the ways we’ve struggled and failed, and the ways we’ve struggled and eked out a win.
Also, I never get tired of the sound of my own voice – err, the clack of my own type?
Chelsey In The Stacks 