The Walworthians: Wendy Cunningham
The Walworthians
A collection of telephone interviews published in the Wayne County STAR Newspaper and Wayne County MAIL Newspaper, 1994-209
by Kate Chamberlin
Wendy Cunningham
April 17, 1996
Wendy Cunningham is one of the people in our neighborhood. She is the Children’s Programming Specialist at the Walworth-Seely Public Library. Actually, we call her the Children’s Librarian!
“I’ve always been interested in library work,” Wendy said. “I was a Girl Scout for 10 years and my very first badge was the Library one.”
During her Senior year in High School, she did volunteer work in the school library. She also volunteered in the public library. During her college years, she had a paid position in the Roberts Weslyan College library.
Wendy’s degree is in Social Work, but the lure of the library won her heart.
Future and I first met Wendy when she was a volunteer in the Macedon Library. She was surrounded by what seemed to be a thousand preschoolers!
In the fall of 1995, Wendy was hired as our Children’s Librarian. It is a part-time position.
She might be at the library for part-time, but her mind is always thinking of interesting things for the children and the Book Jammers Club to do.
Wendy lives with her husband, Robert, two daughters and two cats.
Her daughters Beth, a 7th Grader, and Amanda, a 3rd Grader, attend the Gananda Central School System.
“My husband is currently ‘economically challenged’, but we hope that will change soon.” she said referring to his recent unemployment.
Robert’s expertise is as a Nursing Home administrator. Jobs at his level are hard to come by, but he has several irons in the fire. They are hopeful that something will come to fruition. (see KUDOS for an up-date on this situation.)
“One of my dreams for the Children’s Library Program is about to become a reality,” Wendy said. “We’re starting a Lap-sitting Story Time.”
It is for young children and a parent. Each session will run one day a week for 10 weeks. Registration can be done at the library.
“Another dream is to bring the Kindergarten, First and Second Graders back into the public library with an after-school story time,” she continued. “There seems to be a lot for the preschoolers, but once they enter the school, we don’t see them until 5th or 6th grade when they start research reports.”
Wendy explained that the Public Library has a different emphasis on their library collection than the schools.
She’d like to see the primary children using the public library all the time, year around.
Wendy has a good start on making that dream a reality, too.
Good Luck, Wendy, and thank you. You are a Walworthian with the accent on worth.
2019 Up-Date: I wasn’t able to locate Wendy for an up-date. Have you seen her lately?