Meet the team from Cockburn Libraries!
Hi, my name’s Crystal.
I’m mum to two young girls, sister to two brothers and wife to one husband. In my spare time I love learning languages, playing the piano, drawing and of course reading tonnes of library books and being a silly sausage with my daughters.
I’ve been working at Cockburn Libraries for almost a year as a casual librarian two or three days a week and am usually located at Success, though you might also find me at Coolbellup or Spearwood libraries. My role as reference librarian means I get to work and meet our customers at the front desk, order new books and dvds and remove worn or less-used items from the collection.
When and why did you begin working in a library? I first started working in libraries 18 years ago after finishing an undergraduate degree in history and not knowing where to go with that. Do I teach history? Start writing my own historical analyses? Then my dad suggested libraries and that’s what I did, having always had a fondness for literature and the safe and welcoming atmosphere provided by these special buildings.
Favourite thing about working in a library? I worked in legal and academic libraries for a few years before trying out public libraries and I’ve found the place I love to be. I enjoy meeting people from all walks of life and the diversity of public library customers certainly provides that opportunity. There are also awesome events happening all the time, from Pram Jams to author talks, board games to Comic Con, book clubs, Chinese New Year celebrations and the list goes on!
A book you recommend? If I had to choose a favourite author I would have to say I still love almost all of Roald Dahl’s work. Something has always stayed with me about his quirky, I’ll-let-you-in-on-a-secret (if that makes any sense at all) writing style. At the age of seven, I took The Witches with me on holiday with my family to meet my Norwegian grandad for the first time. I’ll never forget the night there was a huge storm that cut the power for four days and nights. As I lay in bed that night reading the book by candlelight while the storm raged outside, I had chills down my spine as Dahl wrote that, ‘The Norwegians know all about witches, for Norway, with its black forests and icy mountains, is where the first witches came from.’ I sometimes think that maybe the editors made him add the follow up sentence about witches never doing anything silly like breaking into children’s houses or climbing up drainpipes, just so that mums and dads could assure their kids they were safe in their own beds!
As an adult I’ve been wanting to get into more non-fiction books but alas, I can’t seem to stop reading for its delicious escapism and have loved psychological thrillers like the Girl with the dragon tattoo series, The girl on the train and Gone girl. Why do they all have ‘girl’ in the title?? I’m currently breaking genre and reading sci-fi title Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, recommended to me by my gaming-addict brother and I’m quite enjoying its 80’s nostalgia so far.
If you see me amongst the shelves, come and have a chat! I’m an open book 🙂
