 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
Barbara Sackman '66
|
Barbara Sackman '66
Retired Supervisor of the Soundview Branch of The New York Public Library
Lifelong Love for Literature
Favorite professors:
Dr. Murray and Dr. Curry.
What English skills do you use everyday?
"Thinking critically and reading books for content; this was the best skill I ever learned."
Favorite children’s author:
Eric Carle, C.S. Lewis, and Edward Eager.
Advice for English majors:
"Learn to read and write well."
Barbara Sackman has had a lifelong passion for books. It only seems natural that one would find her sharing her knowledge and appreciation for literature within The New York Public Library system, creating unforgettable experiences for others at one of the leading public libraries in the world.
Ms. Sackman began her career as a children’s librarian, working at the Parkchester Library before transferring to the Soundview Branch of The New York Public Library. Soundview, located in the Bronx, is a neighborhood of private homes and projects. Since it opened in 1973, the Soundview Library has served as a safe-haven for children, students, and members of the community, providing them with an educational and literary environment.
At Soundview, Ms. Sackman ascended the ranks to assistant branch manager and eventually branch manager. In this role, her responsibilities included overseeing the library’s budget and writing the annual report, planning programs, evaluating the needs within the library, and purchasing books to add to the children’s and adult collections.
In addition, she promoted community awareness of the library and its services by speaking at local schools. She adapted to constant change and advances by learning computer skills and teaching children basic computer classes and how to use the internet and new information technologies.
Ms. Sackman, who developed and implemented several children’s programs at the Soundview Library, discovered that her favorite aspect of being a librarian was reading to the children. She loved witnessing the children’s emotions and reactions during story time.
Among her varied responsibilities, she enjoyed those that required interaction with the library’s patrons above all others, from providing reference services to assisting users in finding the perfect book. "My work required that I help people," she says. "I loved my job."
Ms. Sackman discovered her passion for books at a young age. Her father, also an English major, was an out of print book dealer. "He had tons of books in our basement," she recalls. "He would always read to me and my brothers and sisters." Before long, she was rummaging through the books on her own, pulling them out to read them herself.
She fondly recalls spending summer nights in her youth immersed in books; she especially remembers novels by her favorite author, Georgette Hayer, who wrote historical romances and detective fiction. When it came time to select her college she chose to pursue a degree in English at Adelphi because she could commute each day from her family’s home in East Rockaway and keep her job at the local public library, a position she held throughout high school and college.
Following graduation, she pursued her master’s degree in library science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to more fully prepare herself to embark on her career as a librarian.
In 1999, Ms. Sackman retired from the New York Public Library system, and moved all 4,000 of her books to Deerfield, Massachusetts. Today, when she is not working at Historic Deerfield’s Museum Store, you can undoubtedly find her enjoying a good book.
|
|
|
|
