Claire Schroeder 

Claire Schroeder (MSLS, ’18) earned bachelor’s degrees in history and English from the University of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, OH. In 2016, she joined the library and information science graduate program at the University of Kentucky where she specialized in youth services. 

While Schroeder has worked for the Cincinnati public library system for more than 10 years, she accepted one of two children’s librarian positions at the Madeira Branch just days after graduating with a Master of Science in Library and Information Science in December 2018.

“In my new position, I plan and present Toddler Storytime every week and will fill in for our other storytimes throughout the week as needed. I will plan and present adult programming each month as well as tween-focused programs in collaboration with our teen librarian,” she said. 

As part of her role she also compiles and tracks collections of books for teachers who use the Madeira Branch and helps with collection development and maintenance of kids’ books. 

“I am already having a blast singing and dancing with the kids in storytime and am really looking forward to putting my own spin on it,” Schroeder said. “I find working in the public library in general to be really rewarding because there are days when you know that you have truly helped somebody with something big in their life. Of course, anyone who has worked with the public knows that there is also a special set of challenges that goes with that, and you really have to be prepared to do or find anything that is thrown your way.”  

As a graduate student specializing in youth services, Schroeder says that her favorite LIS classes were LIS 610: Library Materials and Literature for Children and LIS 614: Library Materials and Literature for Young Adults. 

“I gained a new appreciation for young adult books in my young adult literature class – they are something that I was reluctant to read on my own, but definitely discovered some new favorite in that class,” she said. “However, I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed LIS 690: Government Documents. Learning about all of the different kinds of information about and by various government agencies was pretty interesting and would be really useful for someone who wants to know about how our government operates on a daily basis.” 

Professionally, Schroeder is interested in trends in children’s literature, particularly representation of people of all types and background as characters in books and as authors. For her, the goal is to make a conscientious effort to represent all kinds of people during her storytimes and programs. 

Personally, she enjoys spending time with her dogs, Rosie, a golden retriever, and Sage, a German wirehaired pointer. As a post-grad, she looks forward to getting back into calligraphy and embroidery and learning how to knit. 

Her advice for current students is to gain practical experience working in a library. She said, “It can be really different from what you imagine it to be, so it is definitely worth taking the time to see what the real thing is like.” For students who are also maintaining a full-time workload, she suggests, “Stay on top of our class work but still be sure to cut yourself a break and do something fun every once in a while. Burnout and breakdowns will happen, but push through it because the end is closer than you think!”