The typical idea of a female librarian often includes long skirts, a tight bun, spectacles, and a no-nonsense look about her. But Amanda Kaiser, Oesterle Library’s coordinator of technical services, has been frequenting the library with a friendly smile, colorful jewelry, and engaging personality since the day she was hired.
Kaiser, who joined the library staff September of 2015, and has been in the library business for years.
Amanda Kaiser
“I’m a freak of nature! I started working in libraries at 14 when I was at the library at the Art Institute of Chicago where my mother worked,” Kaiser said.
A native of Chicago, Kaiser has stayed in the area except for when she left for college to pursue an undergraduate degree at University of Wisconsin-Madison in art history. Later, she transferred back to Chicago to finish her degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago and then proceeded to get her graduate degree in Library Science at Dominican University.
Kaiser has been in many different positions as a librarian, but she kept her last job for the longest time before happening across a job opening at North Central’s library.
“I was at my old job for 17 years, but there was a possibility of it going out of business so I was keeping my eyes open. My son was going to the Japanese conventions that they put on here so I was actually at the Boilerhouse doing some work waiting for him. Later, the job opening here came across my radar somehow so that’s what inspired it all,” she said.
She interviewed for the job, a daylong process that includes meals and coffee breaks in the presence of the interviewers, and felt at home with the welcoming staff members.
Although library science is a degree that is often not recommended due to the humble income it accumulates, Kaiser says that now is still a great time to get into it.
“It is a good time for it because it has been changing so much, it’s not necessarily the old model that people imagine. The problem now with library science is that people are trying to keep it old school in a day and age with so much technology. We need people who are able to realize what the patron needs,” she said.
And no longer is the idea of an anti-social, uptight librarian in place.
“You have to be engaging with people. I really like working with people, that’s one thing I enjoy about being here is that in my old job I was very isolated and my favorite part is working with people,” she said.
Kaiser also says that people should take into account the quality of life that comes with being a librarian. Although it is not an easy job, she says that the stress levels are lower than many other jobs and allows for time to travel and enjoy family.
Kaiser and her husband, Hans, have three kids – two sons and a daughter between the ages of 10 and 20. Their daughter is currently studying in the Netherlands, where they have visited her, and their youngest son already harbors an interest in studying in Japan when he goes to college. Kaiser herself has been to Europe three times and has plans to go back.
Despite so much travel and work, librarians have to find time to read. At the moment, she is reading “The Fault in Our Stars” and “Tuesdays with Morrie” and recently reread one of her favorite books, “Pride and Prejudice.” But what she most enjoys reading is nonfiction news articles and blogs from her phone to stay up to date.
“My husband always complains that I’m on my phone too much – but I’m reading!”
