Visit the Roxane's website:
http://www.roxanechadwick.com
Authors Among Us - Children's Writers Who Are or Who Have Been Librarians
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Roxane
Chadwick Visit the Roxane's website: http://www.roxanechadwick.com |
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Authors Among Us - Children's Writers Who Are or Who Have Been Librarians
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Featured Titles by Roxane Chadwick
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Felt Board Story Times
Highsmith Press; ISBN: 0917846826 |
| Find out more about
Roxane Chadwick and her books at: http://www.roxanechadwick.com http://www.childrensbookguild.org/chadwick.htm |
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| What influenced you to become a librarian?
It was a fluke. I was looking for a job out of college with a degree in Art History and English. I applied at the State Library of Ohio, Reference Department. I got the job as a library assistant. I liked the job. So after a few years, I went to get my library degree. Do you have a library/information science degree? Yes, University of Maryland. What kinds of library positions have you held and where? Head of Children's Services in the Anchorage Area Library
System, How long have you been a librarian? Thirty years. Are you currently working as a librarian?
No, I was laid off due to budget cuts. If so, do you plan to continue in the profession? Yes, but in a different capacity, as a writer in the field and a workshop presenter. Which came first in your life, your work or career as a librarian, or writing for children? I had always wanted to be a writer/ illustrator, but I had to earn some money and I really enjoyed librarianship, especially the storytelling, collection, and programming aspects. Did your library work have anything to do with becoming a children's writer? My first book was inspired by a library assistant, a middle school girl who had difficulty reading. I wrote a novel set in her home town, Point Hope, Alaska, about polar bear hunting, for some Eskimo child with reading difficulties like her. I actually wrote it for her, but by the time I had completed it and it had been published, she had grown up. My love of programming and workshops I gave on programming prompted me to write the Felt Board Story books. Also, part of my job was to keep up with the literature, so I learned techniques and market needs from what I read. Did your library work directly influence your work as an author? Yes. Both negatively and positively. I read some of the best books written for children. This made me set my standards very high. Also, I found that a subject I wanted to write about had been done, so I was discouraged from working on a similar project. Did you respond to children's books in your library collection, or to the lack of books of certain kinds or on certain subjects, or to your interactions with library patrons and their families? No, I only write about subject that I am intensely interested in. I have to have a passion about the subject or I cannot sustain a lengthy time working on the subject. Did librarianship increase your knowledge of children's literature and influence the kinds of things you chose to write? Yes, definitely. I wanted and still want to write something as good as the last book I read. Did incidents from your library work ever make it into your books? Sure, especially anecdotes about story times in my story hour sections. Did you ever set any scenes in your books in the library? Not yet. What are the greatest benefits of being a librarian to you as a writer? I have access to the books constantly. And serendipity works too. A fact I need just pops up at me from some new book I have to look at. Are there any drawbacks to being a librarian and also a writer? Time. I would like to write and illustrate all the time, but a girl must eat. If you wrote while working as a librarian, how did you manage the time-juggling act? I wrote after work and on the weekends. How did your employment impact on how much you wrote and when you did it? When I worked a seven hour day and commuted an hour-and-a-half, I had about four hours a day for the rest of my life. I usually try to write two to three hours at night, which is when my mind is sharpest anyway. And on the weekends, I write. I also take writing vacations. Did you find any conflicts or job-related difficulties in being both a writer and a librarian? No, I am very careful to keep the two jobs separate. I devote my full time at work to work, but I seldom take work home. And when I'm at home, I shed my librarian responsibilities. How did your library administration and colleagues view your authorship? I had no problems, but I don't talk about my writing at work. Is your authorship appreciated and encouraged? I think it is just accepted. Some of my colleagues have an antique business on the side, others raise dogs, others clean their houses and entertain. It is my passion, and it is accepted as such. Were the library patrons aware of your writing? Not really, unless I encountered them in another setting like a talk I was giving elsewhere. My school visits as a writer were completely separate and done on my vacation time. Do you feel that librarianship has specific benefits to you as a writer? I am aware of what people read and like to read. It has given me an opportunity to practice my storytelling, which is essentially what a fiction writer does only on paper. Special Quote from Roxane Chadwick: For me a life as librarian and writer is an ideal balance--a balance between my desire to create and enjoy good literature. Roxane Chadwick's Books: |
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Last Updated February 5, 2006