Sparking the community youth’s love of reading

Ever since high school, when she was volunteering at her local library, Ms. Elizabeth Bell had wanted to be a youth librarian. For a long time, it was hard to find full-time librarian positions, so when Ms. Bell was offered a part-time position in 2013, she was ready. A year into that job, a full-time position had opened up, but she had fallen in love with her position. “I had found by that point that I enjoyed being a teen services librarian so much that I decided to stay in my current position!” she said.

It wasn’t just the audience that drew Ms. Bell into the field. She said that she also became a librarian because of the Harry Potter book series. While she was in high school, a friend introduced her to the series and she became a voracious reader.

At that time she had become good friends with her local librarian who also helped her rediscover her love for reading. It was then that she realized her desire to reignite a love for reading in others.

“I decided I wanted to spend my life introducing children and teens to other great books that can spark their imaginations and potentially change their life, so I became a librarian,” she said.

Her experience from the beginning was tough, “…not because the job itself was hard, but because I put a lot of pressure on myself to do everything right,” said Ms. Bell. “I’m kind of a perfectionist. I did make some mistakes but tried my best to learn from them.”

As a librarian she enjoys how her profession allows her to provide a valuable service to the community by helping people find the information they need to improve their lives.

“What I do every day at work has the potential to change lives and that means a lot to me and makes it enjoyable,” she said.

She also enjoys creating fun, engaging and educational programs for the community. As a teen services librarian, she has created lots of awesome programs for teens: anime programs, arts and crafts programs, a teen writing contest, a teen photography contest, programs on how to get into college, science programs and so much more!

“I just love to create fun and engaging programs that challenge and inspire teens to learn or try something new,” Ms. Bell said.

If you want to learn more about Ms. Elizabeth Bell and her librarian journey, make an appointment to visit the Fairfield Public Library on Kentucky Street. “If you ever have a question about something that you want to learn more about or just need a book recommendation, come to the library,” she said. “I’m always happy to help!”