By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow —  Sara Dixon took the reins as the Wellington Public Librarian in August. Since her arrival she has made quite a splash in the Wellington community with several new initiatives with WPL. Sumner Newscow caught up with Dixon to ask her a few things about her first six months as librarian at the Wellington Public Library.

Sara Dixon

Sumner Newscow — Give a brief background about yourself and how you ended up being the head librarian at the Wellington Public Library?
Dixon — Well, I grew up in Derby and attended high school in Wichita. I have a lot of family in Wellington, though, so I was almost always here for the holidays. I got my Bachelor of Arts in English Literature at Kansas University (Rock Chalk Jayhawk!). While in college, I started working at the Lawrence Public Library, and continued for more than a year after graduation. It was there that I realized that I wanted to be a librarian. I was also at an age where I was looking for adventure, so I decided to pursue my graduate program in Florida.

In Tallahassee, I worked for the Florida Department of Education and eventually started a graduate program in Library and Information Science at Florida State University. I loved it! I took classes to prepare me for adult reference services and web design.

I graduated in 2011 and continued on at the Department of Education; then I got a promotion and before I knew it two years had passed.

This last year, though, I began looking to return to Kansas. I wanted to be closer to my family and I was ready to transition to my library career. I wasn’t having much luck finding library jobs in Kansas while out in Florida. Most people couldn’t believe that I wanted to move back to the Midwest. So I packed it all up, resigned from the Department of Education, and moved back to Kansas in the hopes that it would put me in a better position to find my ideal job.
Two months later, I was hired by the Wellington Public Library.

SN — What made you interested in libraries?
Dixon — I love libraries! They are so important to every single community. I visited the Derby Public Library fairly often as a child, being an avid reader. So it seemed natural that I’d enjoy working at the Lawrence Public Library.

I worked in circulation, at first shelving books, then I graduated to checking books in and out, basic customer service. But I loved when I got to assist people with their basic information needs: help finding a book; library policies and where to find them; using library services.

One day, I helped an older gentleman sign up for classes online, which was still a relatively new thing back then (online registration, I mean). It was a slow day, so we had the time to work through it together, piece by piece, and he successfully registered. This was my defining moment, when I knew I wanted to be a librarian.

We use information almost every second of every day. Some of it is filed away in our brains for when we need it. For practically everything else, you can ask a librarian. We aren’t experts on most things, but we will learn as we help you. One time, I called a librarian just to find out where I could take my recycling in Tallahassee.

Our reference services don’t just extend to scholarly research. Need help with Word or Excel or the Internet? Come by the library. We are here to serve the needs of the community. That’s what librarians are about.

SN — When did you start and what have been your first impressions of the Wellington Public Library thus far?
Dixon — I started mid August, 2013. So far it’s been a whirlwind, but I’ve loved every minute of it. The staff here is fantastic, so it’s made my transition pretty darn smooth. We’ve already accomplished so much, but only because each member of this team is so very capable. Also, I love that I get to work in a historic Carnegie Library.

SN — You so far have been very active in the community with new library initiatives. Tell us a little bit about the things you have done since starting here.
Dixon — Wow, it hasn’t really slowed down since I got started! Since coming on board, we’ve launched the Sunflower eLibrary, an online library of eBooks and eAudiobooks you can download straight to your computer or mobile device (Kindle, Nook, iPad, smart phone, etc).

My predecessor thankfully started that ball rolling, and we have been excited to see its release! If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, I strongly encourage you to do so. You will need your library card number and a PIN, which we can easily set up for you at the circulation desk with a picture ID.

We’ve also been promoting our online services! Did you know that you can access our entire catalog (the records of all the books in the library) online? Visit our website! You can also access your library account online to renew books, start reading lists, and place holds.

So far, the Wellington Public Library has had a pretty active Children’s program with summer reading and weekly story time. We are looking at branching out to the other age groups, starting with our teens (sixth through 12th grade). We kickstarted these programs with Teen Read Week in October, and have started a Teen Advisory Council (or TAC).

We are making plans for the next year, and we will begin providing some really fun, and consistent programs for teens starting after the holidays.

We had a lot of fun with Banned Books Week, back in September. We had displays showing books that have been banned or challenged over the years. Then, for willing participants, we took “mug shots” of people “caught reading banned books” (check out our facebook album). The displays were meant to get people talking about the freedom to read what we want, and how censorship can damage free thinking. I think a lot of people can point back to a book, that may have been a little racy, but it taught us something about how to be a person. Try to remember that book. It was probably banned or challenged.

Back to more recent stuff, last month we celebrated National Games Day. Our Wii is back up and running, and we had a Yu-Gi-Oh tournament (a trading card game duel).

We’d like to extend Games day services to all year long. If you want to come and play a game at the library, just stop by the circulation desk. We can check out Wii controllers or board games for in-library-use with a valid library card.

SN — What would you say are some of the challenges at the library in the coming months and years?
Dixon — A lot of people still feel like libraries are essentially big, old book warehouses. Yes, we have a lot of books; that is true. And we will continue to purchase books, but it’s only a portion of what we can do in the community.

All the services and programs that we have been doing and all the programs we hope to do, those will be geared toward changing the “book warehouse” perception.  We have a Wii, board and card games, magazines, computers, story time for preschoolers, book club, soon we will be licensed to show public movies. When people need to print or fax something, they often come here.

When people started moving toward downloadable books and audiobooks, libraries jumped on board. We are constantly evolving so as to provide the most appropriate services to an ever changing community. Another challenge that is closely tied to this perception is funding. Why would people want to fund a “book warehouse”? But a learning commons for the entire community? That makes a lot more sense.

SN — This is a little personal, but archiving the news seems archaic especially in Wellington. All back issues of the Wellington Daily News is on microfilm. Also, there haven’t been any back issues of the local newspaper in the past three or so years. Is there a movement afloat to change that?
Dixon — Ha! You must have heard something… I don’t think archaic would be the right word. But I think it has definitely been overlooked, which is tragic. There is so much history in Sumner County that we NEED to archive this information. So, we are looking at ways to preserve back issues of the Wellington Daily News, and other newspapers in Sumner County.

We’ve already started talking with other agencies in the county. Ideally, we’d like to digitize them so that folks can easily search through old records using keyword searches. For example, when you need an obituary, and you don’t have the exact date, you could search a range of years with the last name.

That’s what we hope to accomplish when all is said and done.  But, this is a monster of a project (over 100 years of newspapers) and we have only scratched the surface, so I can’t say much more than that. It is definitely something we’d like to do, and it needs to be done.

SN – What do you think the function of the public library will be like in the next 10-20 years?
Dixon — Honestly, I don’t think the function will change at all. How we access information and books will certainly change. But a public library will always be a place that people can gather and learn, in a group or alone.

Libraries have existed since ancient times as a place for scholars (and later the public) to discuss all things under the sun. The Library of Alexandria was actually a huge complex with reading rooms and meeting spaces. People will always need information, and the public library will be there to help them access it in any futuristic way we can.

SN — Do you have anything else to add?
Dixon — Well, you forgot to ask me what I’m reading.  I’m reading (or listening to) The Cuckoo’s Calling on eAudiobook. I downloaded it from the Sunflower eLibrary.

Also, we’d love to see you at the library! Find out about upcoming events and new library services on our website (www.wellingtonpubliclibrary.org)! You should also ‘LIKE’ us on facebook!