This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
04/20/2022 08:30 AMAs one who jumps into costume to help host Guilford Free Library (GFL)’s annual Comic Con, it’s safe to say Teen Services Librarian Sara Martone can get pretty enthusiastic about GFL’s special events, including the annual Friends of GFL Spring Book Sale coming Friday, May 6 and Saturday, May 7 to GFL at 67 Park Street.
“The friends run these amazing book sales,” says Sara. “The fall book sale in September is their biggest—it’s like a festival. The spring book sale is a little smaller, but it’s on our beautiful outdoor patio, it’s got great books and even some live music, and it’s right before Mother’s Day. So hopefully, people will bring their moms and buy some books!”
The sale takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 6 and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on May 7. Shoppers will find “books of all kinds for mothers and others” according to the friends’ Spring Book Sale post at www.guilfordfreelibrary.org, As always, gently used books in excellent condition, donated by residents and cataloged by a small army of friends year-round, will be offered at rock-bottom prices. On May 6, the first 25 shoppers will also walk away with a free Mother’s Day flower, courtesy of Guilford White House Florist. Saturday’s live music performance by Madison School of Rock is set for noon to 1 p.m. All sale proceeds benefit GFL.
Sara, who grew up in East Haven, has shopped the sale in the past, both as a GFL staff member and as a library-lover in her young adult years. She earned her B.S. in psychology at Southern Connecticut State University and got her first chance to work among the staff at GFL during a spring-summer six-month internship in 2014. At the time, Sara was also earning her masters in library and information science at Syracuse University, which she received in 2015.
“I was looking for an internship somewhere where I could see myself working, and Guilford was definitely one of those libraries,” she says.
From her internship, Sara says she knew Guilford was the library where she wanted to work as a professional, but at the time, she also knew she needed to build up her qualifications.
“So I had to look elsewhere and get the experience I needed to come back to Guilford,” she says.
She was a part-time clerk with North Haven’s Public Library for 14 months, followed by a full-time role in children and teen services with Oxford Public Library for six months, before landing her dream job as GFL teen services librarian nearly seven years ago in September, 2015.
Sara says her job is a dream due to GFL’s combination of fantastic co-workers, support from the friends group, patrons from the community, GFL’s wonderful facility, and a built-in audience of tweens through teens who love their local library and their hometown.
“I feel lucky being in Guilford because a lot of the kids like to come to the library, and they’re also really involved in their community,” says Sara. “I have a lot of high school kids that come to me wanting to do programs or volunteer.”
When it comes to putting together programs, Sara never seems run out of ideas.
“I definitely try to incorporate all of my interests in the job, which I feel are things the kids would like, too—food and cooking and baking, music and crafts, and Harry Potter, of course!” she says.
In 2017, she ran a Harry Potter-themed Summer Reading program that was so overwhelmingly popular (nearly tripling regular participation numbers) that she’s bringing the concept back as her 2022 reading program for teens (grades 7 to 12) and tweens (5th and 6th grade).
“I like to try to plan things and think of things that the kids want to do. Even if it’s not reading or deeply learning-related, you want them to come to the library and feel welcome, and I think getting them things that they’re interested in and like to do is one of the best ways to do that,” says Sara.
For example, Sara dreamt up the idea of putting on GFL’s wildly popular annual Comic Con. It was established in 2016 and is always supported with help from the friends group as well as co-organizer/Children’s Librarian Angelina Carnevale. Sara’s excited to announce that, after a two-year hiatus due to COVID, Comic Con will be back, live and in-person, at GFL in October, 2022.
As someone who loves the world of animated characters, comic book heroes, super heroes, and graphic novels, Sara knew the idea of holding a Comic Con at GFL would take off, and quickly found a willing and equally-eager partner in Carnevale.
“At the time, some libraries in the country were starting to do them, and we both had interests in the larger comic cons, like the ones in New York, Boston, and Hartford. So we thought, ‘Why don’t we do that at the library?’” says Sara.
The first GFL Comic Con drew about 600 people, and ensuing comic cons have sustained that number, says Sara. Many participants arrive dressed in character costumes and ready to participate in special programming set up in various areas of the building and outside, from live gaming for multiple players, to character visits for the kids, drawing/illustration classes, a green-screen photo booth, and demonstrations (think sword-fighting, etc.). The last Comic Con, held in 2019, also drove in a number of visiting vehicles replicating those from the Jurassic Park movie franchise.
“It’s organized chaos—it’s a crazy, crazy day,” says Sara, who, like Carnevale and many other GFL members, dresses in costume for GFL Comic Con. Sara’s appeared Disney’s Anna from Frozen, Ursula from The Little Mermaid, and even Sabrina, the Teen-Age Witch, among other characters.
“We hold it in October because a lot of people are already dressing up in costumes for Halloween, and I’m a big Halloween fan, too,” says Sara. “That’s my favorite holiday, so I’m all about the costumes.” After another extended break due to the pandemic, Sara’s also hoping she can begin to bring back another popular attraction to GFL: custom-made escape rooms. She’s thinking about putting together a Harry Potter-themed escape room in the near future.
“We were building our own escape rooms for while. We did one called ‘Escape the Laboratory,” and it seemed like something everybody enjoyed,” says Sara, noting the rooms were set up for adult, family, and teen sessions to allow more patrons to experience the puzzle-solving library programming.
“I think it is something that is fun to do, but it’s also good for people to do, because it’s getting you to think and solve puzzles in a fun, interactive way,” says Sara.
When she’s not enticing tweens and teens to participate in special events and programming at GFL, Sara curates intellectual and artistic inspiration and exploration in other ways, such as through GFL’s Library of Things (LOT). All items are available to be checked out and taken home for a period of use.
“A lot of the items in the Library of Things are things teenagers are into [including] two virtual reality headsets, a Nintendo Switch, a sewing machine, and lots of musical instruments,” says Sara.
Musical instruments include ukuleles, an electric guitar, an acoustic guitar, and acoustic-electric guitar, bass guitar, and amplifiers for the guitars.
Sara also keeps an eye out for trending items that may appeal to teens. Right now, a DSLR camera is on her wish list.
“It’s kind of a fancy camera,” says Sara of the type of digital camera teens want to get their hands on these days.
DSLR stands for digital single-lens reflex camera and is most noted for having a classic camera body that can use interchangeable lenses.
The GFL Teen Services Program also has a popular collection of video games for gamers to check out.
Financial support delivered by the all-volunteer Friends of GFL helps to bring in many of GFL’s exceptional offerings, programs, services and materials. Established in 1966 and now a non-profit organization with more than 600 members, the Friends of GFL also relies on a hard-working cadre of volunteers to power its annual Spring and Fall Book sales. In 2019, the friends’ 38th fall book and bake sale, raised $56,203 for GFL.
“They do so much work. They’re always here to support the library. I’m just so impressed by the Friends” of GFL, says Sara.