Interview of Mentor

Q: What is your full name?

Ans: Tracey Mantrone

Q: Where are you from (city, state, country)?

Ans: Valley Stream, NY (in Nassau County, Long Island)

Q: Where did you go to college? For how long? Would you like to go back to school?

Ans: BA - in English with Classical Civilization minor UMAss at Amherst (4 years)

MA in Folklore and Mythology - UCLA (2 years)

MLIS (Master of Library and Information Science) - Pratt Institute (2 1/2 years)

I would like to be able to take more classes in librarianship and in web design. I'm going to sign up for online web design classes and well as a second online Spanish class. I have taken some before through www.ed2go.com. I have a hard time attending physical classes since I have to work.

Q: Why did you choose your professional field?

Ans: I enjoyed doing research and learning. I also like problem-solving and training people. I learned a little bit about many topics in college, which is useful for a librarian.

Q: What got you involved in this of work? What inspired you to do it?

Ans: I had worked in food service for 5 years and was burning out. One of my friends had decided to become a librarian (she works for NYPL) and encouraged me to became one.

Q: Why did you choose this particular job at this particular company?

Ans: Brooklyn was the only library system that would hire me before I entered a Master's program for library science. I was hired as a library assistant and worked my way through the MLIS degree. I paid for it myself.

Q: How long have you worked here?

Ans: Since January, 1999.

Q: What is your job title?

Ans: Senior Librarian III - Library Information Supervisor

Q: What are some of the challenges you faced working here?

Ans: Not enough staff, extremely difficult patrons, leaky buildings, trying to get my staff to accept the changing nature of librarianship. On Monday, four of my staff were given 90-day-layoff notices and may be gone in September. I have been attending rallies and advocating for the library. It is difficult to inspire people who may not have job in 3 months.

Q: What is the best part of your job?

Ans: I enjoy helping people with reference questions and doing outreach. I also enjoy redesigning the collection and building design in order to make them more useful and accessible to patrons. I recently was asked to buy the entire adult non-fiction collection for the Fort Hamilton branch, which is scheduled to reopen in the fall, and I really enjoyed choosing the best collection available for the branch.

Q: Do you enjoy the kind of work you do? Why or why not?

Ans: I enjoy the work because I never know what will happen during the course of a day. I usually come to work with 3 or 4 things that must get done and then go with the flow. I like the controlled chaos aspect of supervising. I also feel that I am making a difference in the lives of my patrons. I wish that I could actually eat lunch for once without getting interrupted by some problem that needs to be solved or patron that must be placated.

Q: What advice would you give to teenage interns (such as myself) getting ready for college?

Ans: Do as many interships as possible. Ask questions. Take classes outside of school, especially technology classes. Always remain curious. When you are in college, also do internships. I wish I had done some when I was in college instead of mostly concentrating on academics. I would have developed a better sense of what I wanted to do and more knowledge of my strengths and weaknesses.

Q: What advice you give to teenage intern (such as myself) preparing to find a career in a real world?

Ans: Remember that your actual job title will change over the years but you will continue to use the skill sets that you develop. Concentrate on learning as many skills as possible. It is also important to develop critical thinking skills, a work ethic, and to use your common sense.