Walworth-Seely Public Library: O’Toole
Elizabeth M. O’toole is one of the people in our neighborhood. She is the newest Children’s Librarian at the Walworth-Seely Library.
“I’m in seventh heaven,” Liz said during our telephone interview. “”I love doing the bulletin boards, crafts, stories and being with the children.”
If Liz is in the “children’s room” when the clerks leave in the afternoon, they know something special is in store for everyone in the morning!
“Liz creates such an exciting ambiance that it’s infectious,” said one of the clerks.
Liz has been working at the library ever since her friend Mary Perry, then head librarian, mentioned they needed another clerk. Liz applied and got the job. When the opening came for a children’s librarian, she was a natural shoo-in and hasn’t been sorry yet.
She has a degree in Early Childhood Education. She taught in the Cleveland area for a year and is applying that Montessori training to her library program.
Liz would like to continue the current programs of Book Jammers for the 4th through 6th graders and the Story Hours for the Pre-schoolers.
She’s beginning a K-2 Program to encourage more library use. The children will be reading about such things as kites and pin-wheels. Then, they’ll make what they’ve read about to take home.
She’s been practicing on her own children for years! Kimberly is 13, an active Girl Scout and will be attending Our Lady of Mercy. She’d like to become “some kind of doctor”.
Tom, is 10, a Boy Scout in Troop 260 and active in sports. I met Tom several years ago when I did a Guide Dog Puppy program for the Book Jammers. He is friendly, out spoken and a real nice guy.
Colleen is 7 years old, an active Brownie and attending St. Joseph’s School in Penfield. She is fascinated with all kinds of “creatures”.
Caitlyn is 4 and attending Wee People Nursery School in Walworth and looking forward to attending kindergarten at St. Joseph’s in September.
The kids share their home with G-man, a one year old Golden Retriever, and Emmy Lou, a 7 year old Yellow Lab.
Last, but not least, (or should I say: first and foremost) is Liz’s husband John. He is an ex-Navyman who moved his family to the Walworth area 8-1/2 years ago when he came to work on the Gannett Nuclear Power Plant.
Liz met John when she was in college. She and several girl friends decided it would be exciting to go into Milton to a tavern. It just happened to be the same tavern that was popular with the off duty Navyman from the nearby shipyard.
Need I say more?
John is active in the Walworth Volunteer Fire Department and was a Den Leader for Tom’s den.
This summer, Liz is initiating a program for young adults in grades 6 through 8. The theme is On The Wild Side.
I know the cartoonist who is coming to do her thing on July 30 from 11 to Noon and she is definitely on the wild side!
“I like living in Walworth,” Liz said. “Gananda is kid oriented. I feel the children and I are safe. People in general are friendly and there are lots of baby-sitters available during the day.”
“I’d like to see the new Y come to our area,” Liz said. “If a kid isn’t sports oriented , there isn’t much for them to do.”
I suspect Liz is going to do her part to provide more for these children by and through her work at the library.
Thank you, Liz. You are a Walworthian with the accent on WORTH.
(NOTE; A version of this article first appeared in my collumn Cornucopia in the Wayne County STAR 04/30/1997. Copyright © 1997 by Kate Chamberlin
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Walworth-Seely Public Library: Komorowski
Candace Komorowski
Candace G. Komorowski is one of the people in our neighborhood who has worked to help make the Walworth-Seely Public Library a true Gateway to Knowledge.
“I started volunteering in the library in December, 1993,” Komorowski said during our telephone interview. “It was only eleven hours a week, but then as circulation increased, a position opened up to work 20-hours a week. That meant I had to take the Civil Service Exam. I became a Certified Library Clerk in 1996.”
“The library staff used to do everything, but around this time,” Komrowski continued, “as the growth of the circulation and community increased, the library became computerized. We started to specialize in various areas. I learned how to use the Follett software system of entering barcodes, cataloging and became very familiar with processing the audio-visual materials.”
All the clerks enjoyed working with the folks who patronized the library. They got to know them on a personal basis through their reading tastes. It was not unusual for a new book to come in and they would know this patron or that would like to read it, so the book would go on hold until that patron came in and knew about the book. Sometimes it worked the other way around, too. A patron would read a great book and recommend it to the ladies in the library. Candy is still trying to catch up on all the books on her “list-to-read” that were recommended by patrons.
Mary Perry was the Director when Komorowski first started her volunteering. She worked with Library Clerks Alice Reynolds and Laural Madden. The Children’s Librarian was Sue Herman followed by Ruth Beck. Debbie Scheffler became the Director for a short stint with Liz O’Toole as the Children’s Librarian. When Mary Perry returned, she hired Marie Sanderson and Allison Lee as Library Clerk and expanded the Page Program to bring more teens into the library. Mary Zingerella came on board as the Director in 1998.
“Fiction was the most popular genre,” Komorowski remembered, “and that led in to the books-on-tape and CD’s. Mary Perry responded to patrons’ requests and really built up that section of the library. It filled the need our community’s commuters had to keep current on their reading.”
Komorowski received much of her computer training by taking advantage of the many, excellent, in-service courses through the Pioneer Library System and Rochester Regional Council Courses. The in-service workshops also presented ways of dealing with the public (The customer is always right!) and how to resolve the conflict if your personal feelings/opinions differ from the American Library Association (ALA) policies (such as: filters on the library computers or telling a youthful patron that THAT particupar book is not age appropriate. Staff members were trained and encouraged to follow ALA guidelines.
In 1999, when Komorowski left the Walworth-Seely Public Library, Elizabeth Bowby and Annie *were hired to take over her duties. Komorowski continued to put her skills to good use in the Wayne Central High School Library (now called the Media Center) and, eventually, in the Freewill Elementary School Media Center (now referred to as the Library Information Center).
During her non-library hours she enjoys being with her husband, George, spending time at their place at Chase’s Lake, gardening, and of course, catching up with there first grandchild, Carsten.
“We are always doing something different in the Library Information Center,” Komorowski laughed. “You come in in the morning and, before you know it, it’s time to go home. There just isn’t any time to get bored.”
Thank you, Candy, for all you have done for our libraries. You are a Walworthian with the accent on WORTH.
(NOTE: A version of this article first appeared in my Column Cornucopia in 07/10/2008 Wayne County Mail Newspaper. Copytight © 2008 by Kate Chamberlin)