SEQUIM — In front of a crowd on First Street, Lauren Dahlgren turned, spun and outmaneuvered stereotypes about her profession.
It was the Independence Day parade through Port Angeles, and Dahlgren was the newbie on the book-cart drill team. With five other bookish types, she executed precision moves to promote her new workplace, the Sequim Library.
“I was a bit nervous, but it was really fun,” said Dahlgren, who became Sequim’s chief librarian in June.
The last time she was in a parade was Seattle’s Seafair in 1972, when she did a Chinese dragon dance with a church youth group.
Grew up in Seattle
Dahlgren grew up in the Emerald City, got a degree in business because her father wanted her to learn “something practical” and became a systems analyst at the Boeing Co.
But when her son Andrew was born in 1985, Dahlgren’s outlook on everything changed. She wanted to work part time, and she wanted to follow her heart.
By then she was living in Phoenix, and her heart took her to the public library where there was a part-time position.
Dahlgren later won a scholarship to the University of Arizona’s library science program, which began a long, happy second career.
Post-divorce, she needed full-time work and so took a librarian job in Bakersfield, Calif., and went from there to the coastal town of Lompoc.
She also spent 12 years in the King County Library system, traveling to as many as five branches each week.
When the Sequim manager position opened up, North Olympic Library System director Paula Barnes was looking for someone who could do just about everything.
Dahlgren fits that bill, having worked as a teen specialist and children’s librarian with strong “reader advisory” skills, the ability to talk to patrons, figure out their tastes and recommend books to satisfy.
For Dahlgren, “reader advisory” is one of the joys of the librarian’s life.
After 22 years in this profession, she still relishes “helping somebody find something they’re excited about reading,” she said.
That happens on a daily basis, with grown-ups, teens and children just dipping their toes into books.
“I tell kids: If you can read, you can do anything,” Dahlgren said, adding that she tells parents that if their children want to read “Garfield” comic-strip books and the like, let them.
“They’ll move on” once they learn how much fun reading is.
As for teenagers, “there is life beyond Twilight,” the million-selling series of vampire novels set in Forks, written by Stephenie Meyer.
Dahlgren succeeds former Sequim branch manager Keitha Owen, who was promoted into a new position at the Port Angeles Library.
Reorganization
“We did a reorganization,” said Barnes, to create the Port Angeles branch manager position.
The North Olympic Library System now has 54 employees, with 17 in administration and outreach for all of Clallam County, 18 working in the Port Angeles Library, 11 in Sequim, five at the Forks Library and three at the Clallam Bay branch.
One thing that surprised Dahlgren upon arrival in Sequim: how busy the library is.
On a typical weekday afternoon, the 6,000-square-foot building at 630 N. Sequim Ave. is well-populated with people browsing the stacks, glued to computer terminals or reading by a window.
On April 25, when the library reopened after three months of remodeling, 1,143 poured through the doors.
And earlier this week, on the day Dahlgren and her staff hosted a kite-making session for kids, another 1,100 people came by.
Dahlgren is reveling in the system-wide Summer Reading Program of free events and prizes for anyone who reads or is read to.
Next up: a troupe of trained pigs this Thursday at 10:30 a.m. The miniature pigs purportedly skateboard and engage in other sports.
“I can’t wait,” Dahlgren said, adding that the pigs have performed at other libraries where she’s worked, but she never got to see them.
Since her move from urban center to rural Clallam County, Dahlgren said she’s found the North Olympic Library System both user-friendly and forward-thinking.
“They’re good about not putting barriers between people and library services” such as the fines and rules she saw in California.
She added that beyond the physical shelves, the North Olympic system offers a world of resources on its Web site, www.NOLS.org, while at the branches, staffers are ready to help navigate all kinds of physical and Internet troves of information.
“If you can’t find something on the Internet, come to the library,” Dahlgren said.
As with the books, DVDs and CDs, the databases, job-search resources and personalized help are free for all.
Dahlgren wants to do more, though.
“Tell people to contact me,” she said, “if they have programs they want to see at their library.”
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladaily news.com.
