The Emporia Public Library. It is owned by the city, yes. But… What about the workers? Alex Mosakowski is the outreach specialist for the library and today, I am going to interview Mr. Mosakowski and ask him questions about the library and himself.

Q: What is the best aspect about working at the library?
A: The best aspect of working at the library is helping patrons, whether it’s helping them to find information, answering their questions, or teaching them a new skill.

Q: What is the worst aspect about working at the library?
A: The worst aspect of working at the library is not being able to read all the books I find.

Q: What is the most popular age group that visits?
A: That’s a hard question to answer. I would say it’s pretty even across the board, except in the summer we have a lot more children because of the Kids Koncerts and Summer Reading program.

Q: What book would you recommend for middle schoolers?
A: There are so many books to choose from, but my favorite is The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. It’s a mystery book full of twists and turns, unforgettable characters, and laugh-out-loud moments.

Q: What process did you have to go through to work/direct the library?
A: After completing college, I enrolled in the School of Library and Information Management (SLIM) at Emporia State University to earn a Master of Library Science degree. It’s a two-year program that at the time was a mix of online coursework and in-person classes a few weekends a semester. Today, the SLIM program is completely online. After I graduated in 2020, I was hired as a part-time weekend supervisor at Emporia Public Library and then eventually I was hired to work full-time as the Outreach Specialist.

Q: What decision led you to be where you are today?
A:I graduated college with a degree in history and I always thought I would use that degree to teach and help people. However, it took many years for me to realize what I wanted to do and I worked several other jobs before I realized I wanted to work at the library. Finally, my wife and family encouraged me to pursue a career in librarianship and they pointed out that we lived in a college town with a degree for that. Looking back, it was definitely the right decision for me. I’ve realized that I was definitely called to be a librarian. It’s been a rewarding and fulfilling career for me.

Q: What is your favorite genre of book?
A: My favorite genre of book is definitely history. My interests in history are wide-ranging and I have an entire bookshelf of mostly history books.

Q: What is your favorite book and why?
A: I have read so many books, so I have lots of “favorites.” And I love to reread them.

Alex Mosakowski is the outreach specialist at the Emporia Public Library. The library is open to all and getting a library card is free! I hope you learned about the people that work at the library and more about the library itself. Learn more about the library and some history at: https://www.emporialibrary.org/about