I am currently a full-time instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. I teach Children’s Literature, Literature for Adolescents, Trends and Issues in Literature K-12, and the occasional library course. Nice gig, eh?

I taught 9th grade English for a year before deciding I wanted to do something else with my life. My sister-in-law Jenna made an off-hand remark one day, stating that one can get a Master’s Degree in Library Science regardless of your undergraduate degree. I knew at that moment I wanted to be a librarian.

I thought I would be a reference librarian and move into administration. However, my oldest daughter was born during my first semester of grad school and I realized that I enjoyed children’s literature most of all. So, I became a children’s librarian—two years in Pueblo, Colorado and twelve years at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library in Eau Claire.

I started teaching part-time at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire while I was a children’s librarian. I started teaching one class, then two, and by the time I moved on to be a library consultant for the Indianhead Federated Library System, I was teaching three classes while working fulltime as a librarian. During this time, I received the Wisconsin Librarian of the Year Award, sponsored by the Wisconsin Library Association and the DEMCO Corporation. After five years at the system office, the university made me an offer I couldn’t refuse and I’ve been teaching full-time there ever since.