This 10-year-old bookworm became N.L.'s youngest librarian — for a day
Kirsten O'Leary was in charge of recommending and ordering books for next season
She isn't even old enough to register herself for a library card, but 10-year-old Kirsten O'Leary's love of books put her in charge of lending them out — for a day.
A self-proclaimed bookworm, O'Leary spent her Tuesday at the A.C. Hunter Library in St. John's as the Newfoundland and Labrador's first-ever junior librarian for the day, after winning a contest for the honour.
O'Leary picked out books for the seasonal hot releases, ordered books for libraries across the province and recommended titles on the library's social media platforms.
"The more I do it, the more excited I get," said O'Leary, a few hours into her shift.
One of her picks is the book series Owl Diaries, which features the friendships and adventures of a young owl named Eva Wingdale.
The adult librarians at A.C. Hunter appreciated O'Leary's expert advice.
"We are so excited to have her say 'hey this is really cool and maybe you don't have enough of this,'" said Leigha Chiasson-Locke.
Kirsten, our Junior Children's Librarian For the Day, just paid a visit to the Children's Library and hand-picked some awesome books, audiobooks, and DVDs that she thinks all kids should check out! We spy books by <a href="https://twitter.com/BecElliott?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BecElliott</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/nickbruel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nickbruel</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jk_rowling</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/NLESDCA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NLESDCA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MQPSchool?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MQPSchool</a> <a href="https://t.co/cXuV5B2Bga">pic.twitter.com/cXuV5B2Bga</a>
—@NLPubLibrariesOn top of getting tween reading tips, Chiasson-Locke said the junior librarian job is also about children getting the opportunity to spend more time amid the stacks.
At the A.C. Hunter Library alone, 600 kids participated in the summer reading program, and she wants them to stick around.
"We have a lot of readers, we have a lot of kids that are really excited by the library, who love to come into the library and I thought … what if we give them an opportunity to see what it's like," she said.
"How can we help them become lifelong library users?"
O'Leary said she wasn't fully convinced being a librarian was the career path for her, but she's not ruling it out.
"It seems pretty fun to be a librarian," she said.
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