This month we introduce Emily , an English and Communications graduate of Elmhurst University. Her professional and academic interests range from the college experience of international students to supporting underserved populations in communities. When you see her at the Help Desk, ask her what she recalls about participating in the OFPL Summer Reading Program as a child.
I’m Emily, and I am a Circulation Assistant. I started working at the library in July just after we re-opened. I wanted to work here because I have always loved reading and the services libraries provide.
Growing up, I loved reading fantasy novels. My favorite was the Emily Windsnap series – what a great first name! And when I started working here, I was excited to see that the series has continued since I was a kid.
Nowadays, I like to read realistic fiction. My recent favorites are Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall and Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu. My goal this year is to read more books by minoritized authors, because I didn’t get to read many books by people like me when I was younger. Rom
In college, I focused on intercultural studies, so I also like to read about multiculturalism.
One of my favorite parts about working at the library is finding books about social change. Right now, I’m reading one of our newer books, The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop: How to Decolonize the Creative Classroom.
When I’m not at work, you can find me playing the Sims, working on my bullet journal, or looking for new music. Right now, I love listening to BTS, and I hope to see them in concert once things start happening again.
My bullet journal is a calming activity. It’s creative planning, both literally and figuratively.
More about Emily’s Recommendatons:
The Anti-Racist Writing RaciWorkshop by Felicia Rose Chavez is a captivating mix of memoir and progressive teaching strategies and demonstrates how to be culturally attuned, twenty-first century educators. The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop is a call to create healthy, sustainable, and empowering classroom communities. Award-winning educator Felicia Rose Chavez exposes the invisible politics of power and privilege that have silenced writers of color for far too long. It’s more urgent than ever that we consciously work against traditions of dominance in the classroom, but what specific actions can we take to achieve authentically inclusive communities? Together, we will address how to: Deconstruct our biases to achieve a cultural shift in perspective; Design a democratic teaching model to create safe spaces for creative concentration; and Recruit, nourish, and fortify students of color to best empower them to exercise voice; and Embolden our students to self-advocate as responsible citizens in a globalized community. For anyone looking to liberate their thinking from “the way it’s always been done,” The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop is a clear, compelling guidebook on a necessary step forward.
Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu. Publisher’s Summary: Eric Bittle may be a former junior figure skating champion, vlogger extraordinaire, and very talented amateur pâtissier, but being a freshman on the Samwell University hockey team is a whole new challenge. It is nothing like co-ed club hockey back in Georgia! First of all? There’s checking (anything that hinders the player with possession of the puck, ranging from a stick check all the way to a physical sweep). And then, there is Jack―his very attractive but moody captain.
In The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future, Ryder Carroll, the system’s founder, provides an essential guide to avoiding all-too-common beginner mistakes and building a core discipline from which you can personalize your practice. You’ll not only learn to organize your tasks, but to focus your time and energy in pursuit of what’s truly meaningful to you by following three simple steps:
* Track the past. Create a clear and comprehensive record of your thoughts. * Order the present. Find daily calm and clarity by tackling your to-do list in a more mindful, systematic, and productive way. * Design the future. Transform your vague curiosities into meaningful goals, and then break those goals into manageable action steps that lead to big change. Whether you’re a frustrated list maker, an overwhelmed multitasker, or a creative who needs some structure, The Bullet Journal Method will help you go from passenger to pilot of your own life.
The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler is a series of children’s fantasy novels written by British author Liz Kessler, inaugurated by The Tail of Emily Windsnap in 2003 and continuing as of 2020.For as long as she can remember, twelve-year-old Emily Windsnap has lived on a boat. And, oddly enough, for just as long, her mother has seemed anxious to keep Emily away from the water. But when Mom finally agrees to let her take swimming lessons, Emily makes a startling discovery — about her own identity, the mysterious father she’s never met, and the thrilling possibilities and perils shimmering deep below the water’s surface. With a sure sense of suspense and richly imaginative details, author Liz Kessler lures us into a glorious undersea world where mermaids study shipwrecks at school and Neptune rules with an iron trident — an enchanting fantasy about family secrets, loyal friendship, and the convention-defying power of love.
The O'Fallon Public Library News 