For Librarian, Job Is a Way to Combine Passions

Ocean County Library’s summer reading event, “Novel Destinations,” encourages patrons to read books about travel and other countries. 

For Wendi Smolowitz, Senior Librarian at the , the program is yet another way for her to connect with residents.

She suggested her all-time favorite book - “Evergreen” by Belva Plain, as a read that fits in with the program's theme.

“It is an immigration fiction book about a woman who traveled from Poland to the United States,” she said. The book's theme exemplifies the kinds of readings that participants are encouraged to check out.

Smolowitz also suggested the books of Maisie Mosco, one of her favorite authors.

Mosco "wrote about Jewish immigrants who went from Russia to England back in the early 20th century," Smolowitz said. "That was a family saga and she wrote a few books in that particular series."

That trilogy includes the titles “Almonds and Raisins,” “Scattered Seed” and “Children’s Children.”

Smolowitz said that it is not always easy to find a certain type of book, but fortunately, the library database, Novelist, can help.

“Novelist helps us to locate books for people, so if they told us that they were looking for immigration stories from Russia to the United States, for example, we could use that source to guide us and the patron to those type of books,” she said.

Smolowitz, who has been a librarian for 13 years — the last five in the Ocean County system — said that she enjoys teaching and arranging programs for the library.

“I love helping people find information, whether it is locating a book, or information about a company, a disease or anything at all," she said. "I really love the unpredictability of it."

Smolowitz also leads several computer classes.

“Many senior citizens come into the library and want to learn how to use the computer mouse, the Internet, and Microsoft Word, so we help them out a lot with that.”

The job of a librarian, Smolowitz said, allows one to "combine your passions," something she plans to do as a favorite television show, "All My Children," heads off-air in September.

"We are actually going to be showing the last episode here, and be doing a tribute to the show," she said. "We are going to have people come in and talk about their memories and how they got started watching the show."

Smolowitz will reach out to many different businesses to publicize this event.

"One of the things that we are going to do is partner with Uncle Vinny’s Comedy Club in Point Pleasant because they have a lot of soap stars come to their club," she said.

Although she does not believe they will be able to get a star from the show to come to the library, it is still an opportunity for two local businesses to partner together and help each other with publicity.

“I am currently reaching out to ABC and other soap opera websites. I am combing all my passions – my love for the library and arranging programs with my personal passion for the show.”