Get to Know Melissa...December's Employee of the Month!

This is Melissa's second round working at the Hobart library.  She worked here during high school, left us to go to college, and is now back working not only here but at the Boy's and Girls Club using her college degree.

What do you love about working at the library?

I love being able to see all of the newest books in my favorite subjects.  It give me ideas for my own dream library at home.

Her favorite book is the Odyssey and her favorite movie is The Godfather part one.  If she could have dinner with any person living or dead it would be King Richard the III of England so that she could see for sure what was true about him and what wasn't.

Melissa's favorite food is Kung Pow Chicken.  She is completely obsessed with the royal history of Europe.

Get to Know Stephanie...September's Employee of the Month

Stephanie has been with us for a little over a year. She loves being around all of the books and her co-workers. Stephanie does double duty working here and at McDonald's. You don't see many young people with that dedication. She is a hard worker to.

Her favorite book series is Harry Potter and her favorite book is Room by Emma Donoghue. Her favorite movie is Beauty and the Beast. If she could have dinner with any person living or dead it would be Joseph Gordon-Levitt. (Could I tag along? He's a cutie!) She would probably take him out for pizza since that is her favorite food.

When she grows up she would like to be a makeup artist on movie sets. (Now Stephanie remember us little people when you are rubbing elbows with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Blake Lively!)

Get to Know Ellen...August's Employee of the Month

 Ellen started at Hobart when she was in high school and she has been with us for four and a half years.  Now she is in college studying Forensic Science.  She changed her major to that from Psychology.  She says that is something we didn't know about her.  Another thing you may not know is that she is a great artist.  She painted the window she is standing next to in the photo.

What Ellen loves about working at the the library are her co-workers.  She said they have become a like a family to her.  Her favorite book is "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood and her favorite movie is You're Next.

If she could have dinner with any person living or dead she would have dinner with her maternal grandmother and they would probably have lasagna which is Ellen's favorite food.

Ellen taking a much needed nap after painting her masterpiece!

Friendly Staff Summer Reading Bingo Competition

For the eight weeks that we promoted summer reading for the kids, young adults, adults, and staff the staff participated in a friendly competition.  Each week they recieved a Bingo sheet that consisted of squares filled with everyday library duties and some not so everyday library duties.  Each day the staff member had to cross off a Bingo square that they completed. 

At the end of each week they turned their sheet into me and depending on how many squares they crossed of determined how many times their name got put into the weekly drawing.  All staff members but the librarians participated in this competition.  Each week three names were drawn.  At the end of the eight weeks one grand prize winner was chosen.

Danielle was the grand prize winner.  Congrats Danielle!  She won a $10 gift card to Panera Bread and a bucket full of nail goodies.  I promise if a boy would of won it would have been a different prize!

These were the total number of entries each staff member received for the grand prize drawing:

Danielle-50
Ella-80
Ellen-45
Gary-50
Joyce-40
Kris-45
Sarah-30
Serena-45
Stephanie-40
Ty-45

Thank you all for playing.  I hope everyone enjoyed themselves and everyone did a great job this summer.  Thank you all for your hard work!

July's Employee of the Month is...Amy

Amy's Welcome to Hobart

 Amy is our Assistant Manager and has been with us at the Hobart branch for almost a year.  She has been with LCPL for five years, two in a half as a clerk and two in a half as a librarian.  Some of the comments about Amy were:

Amy is a wonderful person.  She always helps with anything you need.  She is an outstanding employee you have to be proud of.

She has been a great Assistant Manager.  Friendly, helpful and I am glad she came to work for us here.

YMCA, Amy is the M!

 Amy is a dedicated Asst. Manager that puts up with all of us clerks.  She has patients with the staff and patrons and with different issues that arise.

What do you like about working at the library?

"I like helping people.  I love when people come back and love the book I suggested to them or the database I told them about."

What is your favorite book/movie?

"I have so many, but the book I can read over and over again is "Can you Keep a Secret" by Sophie Kinsella.  Favorite movie-Love Actually or Bridget Jones Diary."

Amy with our Tri-Kappa check

If you could have dinner with any person living or dead who would it be?

"My grandma since she passed when I was a baby and after her Ryan Gosling!"

What is your favorite food?

"Chocolate-so unhealthy but I have to have it everyday."  Eat dark chocolate, they say it is good for you!  But in my opinion milk chocolate is the best.

What is one thing we don't know about you?

"I've seen U2 seven times, three of those times spending hours in line to get a good spot on the floor of the arena!  I also got Bono's autograph."  That is what I call a fan and dedication!

Get to Know Serena...

Serena has been with us at the Hobart library as a page for about ten months.  What she loves about working at the library is that everyone is very friendly and she loves seeing new faces come in.

Her favorite book is The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice and favorite movie is The Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton. 

When asked who she would like to have dinner with living or dead Serena answered, "Bettie Paige, Judy Garland, or Marilyn Manson."  I think she should have dinner with all three and serve them some of her favorite food, grilled salmon or sweet bbq ribs.  I say live dangerously and serve both!

A couple things that we don't know about Serena is that she sings and she is drawn into the paranormal.

Get to Know Danielle...

Danielle has worked for LCPL for seven years.  She started out as a page at the Lake Station library and continued as a page when Lake Station and New Chicago merged.  When Hobart had a clerk opening last year Danielle knew she was ready to challenge herself and take on more responsibility and we are glad that she did.  She fits right into our library family.

What do you love about working at the library?

"I love being surround by books and my co-workers are awesome.  I enjoy working a job meeting people."

Danielle's favorite books are Bridges of Madison County, White Fang, and the Twilight Series.  I wonder if Danielle realizes that all of those books have become movies and if she thinks the movies are as good as the books!?  Well maybe not since her favorite movies are classic movies such as An Affair to Remember and Indiscreet with Cary Grant.

If she could have dinner with anyone living or dead it would be with Cary Grant.

I think she might have found my favorite food question offensive!  Her answer, "Really?  If I have to choose...Chocolate!"  One thing that we don't know about Danielle is that she loves Teddy Bears!

Danielle dressed up as Flo, Progressives most perky and dedicated Employee!

Junes Employee of the Month is...Danielle and Serena

Once again we have another tie!  Our third one.  Congratulations Danielle and Serena.  You can get to know Danielle and Serena in the next two blog posts.  Happy Reading!

May's Employee of the Month is...

Gary B.

Gary started his career at LCPL working at the LSNC library as a page.  He then made the leap over to Hobart as a branch clerk in 2012.  We are happy to have him in our family.

When asked what he loves about working at the library he said, "Mostly the people I work for and with.  Turning people on to media that I am passionate about."

His favorite movie is Ordinary People and his two favorite books are Making Rumours by Ken Caillat and All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum.  If he could have dinner with any person living or dead it would be Seth McFarlane who thank goodness is still living.  He is one funny man and I personally look forward to many more works from him!  Gary's favorite foods are Pizza and Pad Kee Mao.

What is one thing we don't know about you? 

    Gary's answer is, "Hard to say..."

Gary congratulations on being May's employee of the month.  You deserve it.  Keep up the good work!

Get to Know Karin

April Employee of the Month

Karin has worked for LCPL for eleven going on twelve years in June.  She started out as the Children's Librarian at the Lake Station library, then worked at both Lake Station and New Chicago libraries, and then finally settled in at the Hobart Branch.  

When asked what she loved about working at the library she answered with, "I love the books, particularly children's literature, being creative with our programming, inspiring children, working with our staff and patrons.  It is nice to feel part of our staff, the Hobart community and see a lot of great people every day who inspire me."

Some of her favorite books are A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell.  If she could have dinner with any person living or dead it would be with Ray Bradbury.  Maybe she would take him out to have Vietnamese food, which is her favorite.

One thing that we do not know about Karin is that she grew up playing the piano and she won 2 Nisbora gold medals.  She also likes to sing, paint, and write children's fantasy.  

The children love Miss Karin and are always asking for her.  They look forward to coming to her programs and just getting to talk to her. 

Get to Know Ella

March Employee of the Month

Ella has been with LCPL for six years and works as our janitor.  She is an amazing woman that takes extreme pride in keeping the Hobart library clean and in tip top shape.  She wouldn't hesitate to give you the shirt off her back if you needed it.

When asked what she loved about working at the library she answered, "I love working for the community.  I love people."  Her favorite movies are Titanic and Finding Nemo.  If she could have dinner with any person living or dead it would be Thomas Kinkade, the artist.  She would take him to Red Lobster for her favorite dinner of crab Alfredo pasta. 

One thing that we do not know about Ella is that once a year, she and her husband take a senior citizen out to dinner to a nice restaurant.  Ella is also very active in her church, comes from a very large family, and loves her two children, Erica and Daniel dearly.

March's Employee of the Month is...

Ella C.

No tie this month!  To find out more about Ella you will have to stay tuned.

Get to Know Ty

I promise that Ty does not wear shorts to work!

Ty has worked at LCPL for five years.  He started when he was sixteen, the lone boy among several women.  Why he didn't run screaming in the opposite directions is still a mystery to this day!  He stuck it out and went from being a page to a clerk and he is a great worker.  I'm not sure what we would do without him.

When asked about what he loves about the library, his answer, "The people I work with and the patrons I meet."  When Ty is on his break you can always find him in the workroom with his nose buried in a comic/graphic novel/manga, so I guess his favorite book/movie being X-men isn't all that surprising.

Or play games at the desk!  We took some fun photos!

If he could have dinner with any person living or dead it would be with Bruce Lee and it would probably be steak since that is his favorite food.  One thing that we don't know about Ty is that he still loves watching Cartoons.  I wonder what his favorites are?

Get to Know Kris

Tango Dancer

Kris has worked for LCPL for seven years.  She started her career out at the Lake Station New Chicago Branches and then landed at Hobart.  When asked what she loves the most about working at the library she answered, "The people I work with, the patrons, and helping people."

Her favorite movie is Steel Magnolias.  If she could have dinner with any person living or dead she picked her grandma and grandpa.  She would fix them her favorite food, steak and potatoes.

When asked what is one thing we don't know about you Kris answered, "Can't think of anything.  I have a big mouth and everyone knows pretty much everything. lol Oh, I can't touch my finger tips together, it freaks me out."

Met at the library: Perfect place to have pictures taken!

Well I can tell you a few things: Kris has sky dived, she skis (though not very well and she hates the snow), she loves the outdoors and canoeing and kayaking, she ballroom room dances,  her wedding (which I became an ordained minister for) was our first library wedding, and Kris would do anything for you.  She is just that kind of person.

And we have another tie!!!!

February found us having another tie for our Employee of the Month.  This month's winners our Ty T. and Kris S.  Congratulations to them!  Both are hard workers and their co-workers agree.

What they had to say about Ty: He is a great worker and that he has made the transition from page to clerk easily.  He is very helpful to patrons and staff.

What they had to say about Kris: She is a hard worker and gets along with everyone.  That she loves people and she loves us!

Get to Know Joyce

Did you know that Joyce has been working at the library for 24 years?  Before working at LCPL she used to work at the Portage Library.  I guess working with books is just in her bones.  But you won't find patrons asking Joyce for book suggestions, they ask her about movies.  She is our resident movie buff, her favorite being Must Love Dogs.  But I do think Ty could give her a run for her money.

Although we do like to tease Joyce about working in a library and not being a reader, it doesn't mean she doesn't read.  Her favorite author is Mary Higgins Clark and when that trilogy came out that had a certain number in the titles she even read those.  So Joyce is breaking out of her non-reading shell.  She is just taking it slowly, why rush things!

Joyce's favorite food is pizza.  When asked if there is one thing that we didn't know about her, she answered that she is an open book so I'm guessing that we know everything there is to know!  If she could have dinner with any person living or dead she choose Paul Walker.  She says he is just too cute.

Get to Know to Sarah

Sarah likes working at the library so much that this is her second round.  The first time she worked as a janitor and page for six years at Hobart and now she has been back for one and half years working as a page for Lake Station New Chicago and Hobart.  She does this all while going to school full time to become a teacher.  She really is super woman.  When she has any free time she likes reading anything by Janet Evanovich and watching her favorite movie The Replacements.  Good choice with The Replacements.

When asked, "What do you love about working at the library?"

Sarah answered, "Besides the bosses, being able to check out the books while shelving."

For her dinner that she could have with any person living or dead she would make her favorite food pasta and at the table would be Keith Richards and Willie (who was someone special).

On a fun note: Sarah is related to Benjamin Franklin!  How cool is that?

And It's a Tie!!!!

I am excited how enthusiastic the staff has been in voting for who should be the employee of the month.  They were so enthusiastic in fact that they voted for two Employee's of the Month in January.  I think you can guess from the picture who the title went to...Joyce P. and Sarah F.  Since Joyce doesn't like having her picture taken Sarah was nice enough to jump in and they did it together.  I am telling you that Hobart Township's employees are all about the teamwork!

The picture had to be in front of Joyce's wonderful bulletin board which she creates for us every few months.  I told her it should have read "We Love Books" but she just gave me a smile that said "I have this Lacey."  Yes, yes she does.  It turned out wonderfully.  If you were to go to any of Sarah's shelves here at Hobart or at Lake Station New Chicago you would find them in immaculate order.  She keeps both branches in tip top shape.

What did their co-worker's have to say about them:

Joyce is hard working, helpful, caring, has a lot of library knowledge, and is good with people.

Joyce is an outstanding person, hard-working, giving, and is willing to help anyone.

Sarah is one great page!

Sarah is awesome!

Sarah is a very hard worker and I don't ever want her to leave.