Book Cart Queens is my way of sharing my experiences with the greater library community. This blog represents the writers’ personal views and not those of their employers.
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About Annamarie Carlson (she/her)
As a girl who pretended to be afraid of the dark so I could use my night light to read past my bedtime, working at a library sounded like the best job in the world. My youthful passion for books has only continued to grow, alongside a desire to create a love of learning in children and teenagers. I achieved this goal every day through my work as a Youth Librarian at Westerville Public Library, Youth Manager at Upper Arlington Public Library, and now Youth Manager at Westerville Public Library.
As a children’s librarian, I created programs and educational resources for ages 0-18. I particularly enjoy promoting diverse voices through readers advisory and programming, presenting storytimes for all ages, leading technology programs for school age kids, and sharing book talks with all ages both virtually and in local classrooms. In addition to programming, I trained fellow librarians on media mentor concepts, created reader’s advisory resources, and worked collaboratively across library departments to create large-scale programs like the Wizards & Wands Festival.
Outside of the library, I am an active member of ALSC and the Ohio Library Council (OLC). Currently, I am a member of the ALSC Education Committee and Coordinator of the OLC Children’s Services Division Action Council, as well as previously serving as chair of the 2020 ALSC Notable Children’s Recordings Committee and as a member of the 2023 ALSC Caldecott Committee. I also volunteer my time as a School Library Journal reviewer.
Learn more at my website, annamariecarlson.com.
Contributor – About Sarah Simpson (she/her)
Growing up, I was fortunate enough to have parents and aunts who read to me from a very young age and now I have the pleasure of reading to my own children (I have four!). Beyond that, as a librarian I get to share stories with the children of my community, from babies to tweens in storytimes, booktalks, programs, and reader’s advisory.
Professionally, I have worked in youth services for ten years at libraries in the metro Columbus area and for the last four years I have been a Youth Services Librarian at Westerville Public Library. My greatest loves as a librarian are programming for ages 0-18, community partnerships, outreach, and creating art. Art is an essential part of storytelling in children’s books. The variety and depth of the art in children’s books is one of many reasons why children’s librarianship appeals so much to me. My other passions are being a mom to four incredible kiddos, hairless cats, snails (I have four of these too!), and making cool art projects for work.
Contributor – About Michala Sage (she/her)
Books, cooking, fun hair, drag queens, and cats in space–these are just a few of the topics moving through my head on an average day as a Teen Librarian at Westerville Public Library. As Westerville’s only teen librarian, I present 5+ programs for ages 12-18 each month including two teen advisory boards, volunteer training, escape rooms, fan events, adulting classes, and more. In addition to programming, I coordinate 380+ teen volunteers, organize the annual teen summer reading program, and manage the 7200+ books in the teen collection.
Before working at Westerville, I built the teen department at the Henderson County Public Library. As the first teen librarian in Henderson, I purchased and managed the teen collection, planned the layout of the new physical space, and coordinated all programming.
Each day working with teenagers (aka giant toddlers) is a new adventure.