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02/15/2017 07:30 AMWhile Sarah Mallory has only worked at Hagaman Memorial Library in East Haven as the teen services librarian for the past five years, the library has always played a big role in Sarah’s life. She remembers visiting the library when she was small with her parents.
“This is the first library I ever came to as a little girl and I remember my mom and dad bringing me to programs,” says Sarah, who is also a part-time reference desk librarian at the Blackstone Library in Branford. “Some of the first books I remember were from Hagaman.”
Despite her longtime love of the library, Sarah didn’t always aspire to be a librarian. With a great love for animals, Sarah was originally on a pre-veterinary track in college. She has been involved with rescuing and rehabilitating animals for years and has a cat named Pig who was paralyzed after being hit by a car in 2006.
“She has a little wheelchair and doesn’t even know she’s different,” says Sarah. “Helping animals was my passion and a hobby, but I wanted a different career.”
After getting her bachelor’s degree, Sarah took time to explore her career options. She began volunteering as an advisor with Branford assembly of the International Order of Rainbow for Girls, an organization with which she had been involved when she was young.
Sarah not only worked with the teens in the group, but she helps the teens plan events and programs and run their meetings through parliamentary procedure.
“Working with them was a great experience. It gets [the teens] active in their community,” says Sarah. “I realized how much I enjoyed working with teens, helping them embrace their goals and realize their dreams. I was in my element in working with them and I realized I wanted to do that as a career.”
As Sarah pursued her master’s degree in library science, she worked at the Hagaman Memorial Library as a library assistant. She began to help plan events for teens and after she earned her degree, she was hired as the teen services librarian.
In 2013, Sarah took over as leader of the Hagaman Teen Advisory Group (HTAG), which former director Karen Jensen had began in 2011 with six middle school students. Sarah has seen the group grow significantly and there is often a waiting list to be a member.
HTAG meets weekly, hosts an event each month, and holds a seasonal coffeehouse that allows teens to come together to showcase talents, sharing art or poetry or performing through singing, dance, and instruments. One of Sarah’s goal is allowing the teens to plan their events. Sarah emceed the first coffeehouse, but the teens have volunteered to host ever since.
“They can share whatever they want to in a safe environment—the parents don’t come into the room so they can just be themselves with other teens,” says Sarah. “They’ve really taken it over and I love giving them that chance not just to follow, but to lead.”
The coffeehouse nights are open to middle school and high school students. The January event drew 44 teens and the next will be held on Friday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m. and will honor National Poetry Month. Refreshments are provided and Sarah is thankful to local businesses such as Dunkin Donuts and Petonito’s for donations, as well as the East Haven Teen Center.
In addition to helping coordinate and promote the programs and events, HTAG helps decide what books will be offered to teens at the library. They read book reviews, vote, and are able to request to borrow new materials first.
“It’s a chance for high school students to take ownership of the library and community service,” says Sarah. “It’s a chance for them to take an active role in what books the library purchases and they set up displays to get people reading more.”
HTAG has also helped to personalize the Teen Reading Room, decorating and coloring a mural. The group also helps the Friends of the Hagaman Library with its events, setting up tables or volunteering at the annual book sale.
“We have a great, great group of kids,” says Sarah. “Most of the kids coming to volunteer have long since earned their required hours for school. Most have beaten that number four-fold. They come back because they love the library and want to help the community. They love belonging to something, they get to know the library, and they build that personal relationship that will last into adulthood.”
Sarah has seen the result of that relationship firsthand as so many of former HTAG members have continued volunteering throughout their college years. She has even been invited to watch members of the group as they graduated from East Haven High School.
Sarah has also met many other teens through the programs she plans. The first teen game night in January was a success and a second is planned for Tuesday, Feb. 28. There are more than 20 board games to choose from, though at the first event, the 10 teens in attendance chose to play a group game called Werewolf, a story-telling game.
“It was a nice team-building experience,” says Sarah. “The game nights give teens a chance to come in and hang out with friends at a casual program.”
The first meeting of Dumbledore’s Army, a teen book club, will be held on Monday, March 6. The group will discuss Sorrow’s Knot by Erin Bow. Those interested in attending should RSVP to Sarah at smallory@hagamanlibrary.org. Information on programs can also be found on the library’s website and Facebook page.
Sarah loves the diversity of her job and wants teens—and all residents—to see the library as a community hub that extends beyond books to entertainment, education, programs, and more.
“The library is a place for people in town to belong,” says Sarah. “Being a librarian was the perfect fit and gives me the chance to embrace so many of my interests in one spot.”
Sarah is very grateful to her parents and her brother for always encouraging her interests, helping to lead her to her career at the library. She now hopes to extend that encouragement and support to the teens at the library.
“My parents are the ones who brought me to library programs and I really am grateful for everything they’ve done and teaching me to embrace my own talents and gifts and not be afraid to be who I am,” says Sarah. “With the teens, I’m trying to build as many opportunities for them as a I can, for them to come in and have a place to belong—a place they feel is not just for adults, but really for them, too.”