Meet the Staff: Miriam Stone

Title: Learning Resource and Access Specialist

Years here/years in same position elsewhere: Approximately 26 years here. I’ve worked in libraries, both public and academic, on and off since I was 17 years old.

Brief description of your responsibilities: I’m the last resort person. If you want a specific item, print or media, and it isn’t available in Berks County, I can literally search the world to find it and have it sent here for you. I also provide back-up for different departments when we are short-staffed. I’m not the only one who does that though. Wearing many hats is something we have all learned to do over the years.

Name one or two things that you love about working in The Yocum Library.
I love the atmosphere of this and every library. This is the one place you can go and we will give you something completely free of charge and with no strings attached - knowledge

Favorite movie? Or last movie seen?
My favorite movie is Terminator 2. The last movie I saw was the new Terminator. They should have stopped at Terminator 2. (That’s only an opinion, not a fact.)


Favorite book? Or last book read or book reading now?
My favorite all time book – To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It tells us all that we’ll ever need to know.

Who inspires you? I’m inspired by people who struggle through the darkness in search of the light – like Samuel Johnson’s quote “the triumph of hope over experience.”

What’s the coolest thing you’re working on right now (work, school, personal)? I’m drawing a series of charcoal sketches to give to my children.

What’s your secret talent that no one knows about? I restore and finish furniture.

If you had a year off with pay, what would you do? I’d toss my cell phone, throw out my alarm clock and start livin’ my life.

Community/volunteer activities: I’ll be volunteering for the Wyomissing Public Library in the spring.

Anything else you wish to add? A place can become magical if the people in it know the secret of magic. All the people who work in the Yocum Library, beginning with Mary Ellen and the full-time staff, the part-time staff, the work study students, the security guards and the volunteers are able to turn learning into magic for everyone who walks through our doors. Come and visit. You won’t want to miss this.

Meet the Staff: Patricia Nouhra

Job title: Distance Learning Librarian

Years here: I have been working in The Yocum Library for 26 years. Before that I was teaching ESL, education courses, reading, writing, and not arithmetic, as well as working in the Tutoring Center.

Brief description of your responsibilities: My title is Distance Learning Librarian. I also help with reference, displays, and purchasing.

Name one or two things that you love about working in The Yocum Library. I enjoy the people I work with and the students and, of course, the books and films.

Favorite movie? My favorite movie is “Singing in the Rain.” It is so joyful. I love musicals.

Favorite book? I cannot choose a favorite book. There are too many. But I do love all of Jane Austin.

Who inspires you? My mother, my mother-in-law, my aunt. They were very strong, independent women.

What’s the coolest thing you’re working on right now (work, school, personal)? I am working on being a grandmother because I am expecting another granddaughter for Christmas.

What’s your secret talent that no one knows about? My secret talent is so secret I have yet to discover it.

If you had a year off with pay, what would you do? Travel with and to my family.

Community/volunteer activities: When my children were in school, I would volunteer in their schools.

Meet the Staff: David Pennypacker (Dave)

Job title: Library Technology Specialist

Years here: I have been full-time at Yocum for 12 years. Before that, I was a part-time library assistant for about 3 years.

Brief description of your responsibilities: I am basically the library’s technology guru. My job is to keep the computers and printers running smoothly and to help students, staff, and co-workers with any tech-related issues they encounter in the library. I also oversee the service desk, train new staff, and help keep our collections organized.

Name one or two things that you love about working in The Yocum Library. My co-workers are pretty cool. I also love being surrounded by knowledge.

Favorite movie? Or last movie seen? The last movie I saw was Rocketman, a biopic about Elton John. I don’t know if I really have a favorite movie anymore, although at one point it was Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Favorite book? Or last book read or book reading now? I don’t have one favorite book in particular but I do have a favorite book series. That would be The Dark Tower series by Stephen King.

Who inspires you? Anyone who is making an honest effort to make the world a better place.

What’s the coolest thing you’re working on right now (work, school, personal)? This “Meet the Staff Questionnaire.”

What’s your secret talent that no one knows about? I’m really good at word games like Scrabble. I’m also a relatively decent drummer, although that’s not much of a secret to people who know me well.

If you had a year off with pay, what would you do? I would probably listen to a lot of music and play a bunch of games. Maybe I’d do a bit of traveling once I started to get bored.

Anything else you wish to add? Support your local libraries! They exist for a good reason!

Meet the Staff: Brenna Corbit, Technical Services Librarian

Years here/years in same position elsewhere: I have been here at RACC since I started as a student in 1997. From there I worked as a writing lab tutor 1998-2001; Library Assistant 2001-2006; Head of Circulation 2004-2006; Adjunct Instructor for writing and literature 2003-2008; Library Public Services Specialist 2006-2007; and currently as Technical Services Librarian which I started in 2007.

Brief description of your responsibilities: Many people think a technical services librarian is an IT person. In library lingo it means I am a cataloger, which means that I am responsible for maintaining the records of all the library’s holdings, both physical and digital, so that they are searchable and accessible for the RACC community. In the mornings, I work as a reference/research librarian. I am also a genealogist and can assist anyone with researching family history.

Name one or two things that you love about working in The Yocum Library. Besides the love of being surrounded by books, I love interacting with and helping our diverse RACC community in any way that I can.

Favorite movie? Or last movie seen? Almost anything from the silent area up to the 1960s. A favorite? Well, if I could only grab one DVD to take into the lifeboat with me, it would be Casablanca (1942), starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. But is there going to be a DVD player on the deserted island?

Favorite book? Or last book read or book reading now?
Do I have to pick? I love 19th century and early 20th century fiction, especially American, Irish, and British. I also love reading history of ancient Europe. I also read some current fiction, but rarely bestsellers. Stray onto an unknown path and explore. Currently, one book I am reading is Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe.

Who inspires you? Autumn leaves and Winter snow (Yes, they are capitalized because I made them proper nouns; spring and summer are not, especially the latter!). Summer weather and sunshine are things to be avoided. I am not a plant. I am a human. Crisp Autumn winds kindle a fire in my heart and soul.

What’s the coolest thing you’re working on right now (work, school, personal)? At work I love the challenges of researching complex family trees. Recently, I have helped someone from the RACC community locate a long-lost half-sibling while working on their family tree. That is really cool, and I really hope that it evolves into a beautiful meeting for the two. Personally, I am into researching and recreating ancient boardgames, such as hnefatafl, a board game from the Viking Age, and ludus duodecim scriptorum, an ancient gambling game from Rome that is often considered a predecessor to backgammon.

What’s your secret talent that no one knows about? My secret talent, if you can call it a talent, is that I enjoy playing ukulele and singing old songs.

If you had a year off with pay, what would you do? Move to west coast of Ireland with my wife, rent a thatched cottage by the sea, read books together by a peat fire while sipping tea, lazily collect sea shells together on the beach while listening to the cries of sea gulls and caws of crows, and in the evenings go to a little pub listening to Irish music while sipping pints of stout; a wee dram of whisky wouldn’t hurt.

Anything else you wish to add? You forgot to ask me about music, one of the best pleasures in life. I love all kinds of music from almost all different centuries and places, except hit music from the last 20 years. In my K-12 years, I was an uneducated listener of bubblegum music until I was enlightened by the 1970s sounds of Hawkwind, an underground psychedelic space rock band from England that is still playing to this day. Yes, I would sneak a live Hawkwind CD into that lifeboat, even if it is against regulations.

Meet the Staff: Kim Stahler, Instruction/Reference Librarian

Years here/years in same position elsewhere: Full-time since 2002. Worked at RACC part-time as a writing tutor, instructor, and library assistant from 1992-2002. I took RACC’s veterinary assistant certificate program a few years ago and loved it. Other jobs I have held are public library director, professional writer, food server, retail manager, and factory worker.

Brief description of your responsibilities: I teach formal classes in the library. Instructors request sessions in which our library staff teach about various research topics. I buy library materials which is great fun but more complicated than it sounds, and I work with students and faculty one-on-one.

Name one or two things that you love about working in The Yocum Library. Constant learning and the encouragement of curiosity, about any topic under the sun. Supportive and collegial coworkers. And being in an iconic building of Reading, the first one you see as you cross the Penn Street Bridge.

Favorite movie? Or last movie seen? Just saw advanced screenings of Downton Abbey and The Game Changers, cool events put on by Fox Berkshire. I enjoyed Blinded By the Light, set in 1987, about the influence of Springsteen’s music on a Pakistani teenager in a small town outside London.

Favorite book? Or last book read or book reading now? I just nostalgia-read Bambi, the classic 1923 novel which I vaguely remembered from childhood. It was excellent and deep! I reviewed it on the Yocum blog. I also have The Other Wes Moore, our One Book/One RACC college choice and Greetings From Bury Park, on which the film Blinded by the Light was based. I enjoyed Demi Moore’s memoir [Inside Out] and can’t wait to read the new one by Debbie Harry [Face It].

Who inspires you? People willing to buck the mainstream to make changes even when it is not easy.

What’s the coolest thing you’re working on right now (work, school, personal)? I am fascinated and intrigued by the benefits of OER (online educational resources which are free and customizable) to college students. I have recently joined a Southeastern PA working group of librarians to learn more about OER after attending a conference on this topic this summer. Our faculty have been early adopters, I am proud to note.

What’s your secret talent that no one knows about? Parallel parking, lol! I am also good at guessing the gender of an animal. Is that weird?

If you had a year off with pay, what would you do? Cook a ton of simple food and feed busy people for free. Write stories. Re-learn to paint and play piano. Take violin lessons and play my old trumpet. Learn more about growing flowers and plants. Continue obsessively writing letters with all my beautiful fountain pens.

Community/volunteer activities: Leading film discussions at the GoggleWorks Theater with my spouse John Zukowski who works here in Admissions. Previously volunteered for One By One Cat Rescue and as a board member of Berks County Public Libraries.

Meet the Staff: Mary Ellen Guertin Heckman

Name/nickname: Mary Ellen Guertin Heckman but a few people have called me “Meg” based on my initials. I don’t respond if you call me “Mary” because I was named for both of my grandmothers who need to get equal billing.

Job title: Associate Dean of Library Services and Learning Resources

Years at RACC: I have been at RACC since 1986 and in charge of the library since 1995.

Brief description of your responsibilities: In my job description it states that I am “responsible for the total oversight of the operation of the College's library, including, but not limited to, program planning, long range planning, budget oversight, and staff supervision.

Name one or two things that you love about working in The Yocum Library: I love helping to create a library that has a strong service philosophy. I love working with students to help them discover library resources although I don’t get the chance to do this too much in my job.

Favorite movie: My favorite drama is Citizen Kane and my favorite comedy is What’s Up, Doc? and I love watching most of the movies on the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) channel.

Favorite book: My favorite book is Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice which my mother gave me as a teenager when I was home sick. I reread it every year.

Who inspires you? I do much research for family histories of my own family plus for friends and I am in awe of our ancestors who left their homes and families and came to a new land with more hope than resources.

What’s the coolest thing you’re working on right now (work, school, personal)? I am helping the Berks History Center’s Women’s History Alliance by researching the lives of Berks County’s early suffrage leaders. There will be a big celebration next year for the 100th anniversary of women getting the vote.

What’s your secret talent that no one knows about? I make Christmas crackers for family and friends. 

If you had a year off with pay, what would you do? I would spend as much time with my family, especially, my grandson Declan and my granddaughter Nora.

Community/volunteer activities: I present programs on family history research at local libraries.

Anything else you wish to add? I love working at RACC because our students make all of us #RACCProud!

Meet the Staff: Gregory Shelton

Name: Gregory Shelton
Position in Library: Student Worker-Librarian Assistant
Educational Background: Attending RACC for Sociology: Criminology
Favorite Books: 1984, Gone Girl, and The Devil You Know
Favorite Movies: Pulp Fiction, Wolf of Wall Street and Friday Night Lights
Favorite Place in the Library: The DVD collection
Hobbies: Reading, playing video games, and working out

Meet the Staff: Matthew Reichl

Name: Matthew Reichl

Position in Library: Librarian assistant

Educational Background: I graduated with a B.S. in English with a minor in political science.

Favorite Books: It by Stephen King, Lolita by Nabokov, Watership
Down by Richard Adams, and Blindsight by Peter Watts

Favorite Movies: The Thing, The Fly, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Ghostbusters

Favorite Area of Library: Fiction

Special Interests: Vegetarianism, sustainable living

Hobbies: Gardening, Adobe design, cooking/baking, TV

Anything else you wish to share that will help others get to know you: My wife and I had our first baby, daughter Cecilia, on October 4th.

Meet the Staff: Jessica Gomez

Name: Jessica Gomez

Position in Library: Work Study

Educational Background: 3rd Year at RACC, Liberal Arts Transfer

Favorite Book: The Outsiders

Favorite Movies: I like too many to pick a favorite.

Favorite Area of Library: 3rd floor because it's a quiet zone and I can work without noise.

Special Interest: Fantasy/Fiction

Clubs: RACC Christian Network

Meet the Staff: Carl Long

Name: Carl Long

Position in Library: Library Assistant (Part-time)

Educational Background: B.A. in Philosophy from Penn State; MLS from Clarion University 

Favorite Books: Dune by Frank Herbert; Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche; The Moral Landscape by Sam Harris; Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Favorite Movies: The Shawshank Redemption, Big Trouble in Little China, anything Stars Wars, and anything Star Trek

Favorite Area of Library: Second Floor Stacks

Special Interests: Philosophy & Technology

Hobbies: Table Top RPGs, board games, hiking, and camping

Anything else you wish to share that will help others get to know you: "We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses." ― Abraham Lincoln

Meet the Staff: Katelyn Bennett

Position in Library: Library Assistant (Work Study)

Educational Background: I graduated from Berks Catholic High School in 2015. I am currently a sophomore here at Reading Area Community College, and intend to graduate this upcoming May with an Associate's degree in psychology. In the future, I am planning on attending Kutztown University for a Bachelor's degree in psychology. My ultimate dream is to obtain a Master's Degree in counseling. I would like to work primarily with adolescents who are affected by eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia.

Favorite Books: I enjoy reading YA futuristic novels as well as nonfiction books that challenge my current way of thinking. My two top book series are the Gone series by Michael Grant and the Legend series by Marie Lu. My favorite book is The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Favorite Movies: A few of my favorite movies in no particular order are: The Fundamentals of Caring (2016), Hector and the Search for Happiness (2014), Donnie Darko (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), Zootopia (2016), Spirited Away (2001), and 21 Jump Street (2012).

Favorite Area of Library: My favorite area of the library is the third floor stacks. I enjoy looking at all of the books we have here, especially the Philosophy and Cookbook sections.

Special Interests: Ethics (Moral Philosophy), looking up various healthy cooking recipes, Native American heritage, and science

Hobbies: Photography, analyzing movie plots and writing reviews, listening to classical, Christian, and alternative artists, and going on walks around my neighborhood

Anything else you wish to share that will help others get to know you: I enjoy collecting various rocks and gems and have quite a good collection so far. I am involved in Phi Theta Kappa and a (soon-to-be) member of Psi Beta. I recently participated in Writing Wrongs, where I worked with several students to interview residents of Easy Does It, Inc. (a recovery center for individuals who are affected by addiction) and publish a magazine. The goal of this endeavor is to show individuals how addiction has impacted several lives and to eliminate the stigma attached to alcoholism/drug addiction. To learn more, check out writingwrongs2016.com. I am also a new member of the Front Street Journal here at Reading Area Community College.

Meet the Staff: Mayra Sepulveda

Position in Library: Library Assistant (Part-Time)

 

Educational Background: B.S. in Education/Visually Impaired from Kutztown University

 

Favorite Books: Children's Book - Ferdinand by Munro Leaf; Adult Books - The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion

 

Favorite Area of Library: The Service Desk because I meet so many fascinating people

 

Special Interests: Promoting the library and all of its benefits to our community and our Berks County heritage. [Mayra has been employed by the Reading Public Library for 15 years.]

 

Hobbies: Theater and music events are entertaining and fun. We have so many choices here in Reading and Berks County. I really enjoy watching high school musicals. One day I believe we'll see them on Broadway, on the big screen or at the Oscars.

 

Anything else you wish to share that will help others get to know you: When money and time allow, I love to travel and take photographs. I've been to China, Japan, Egypt, and Peru, to name just a few.

Meet the Staff: Steven D. Mathews

Name: Steven David Mathews

Position in Library: Library Assistant (Part Time)

Education: Muhlenberg High School, 2004; Ithaca College (Bachelor of Music in Music Education), 2008; and University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music (Master of Music in Music Theory), 2010. I began my PhD in music theory at the University of Cincinnati in September 2010, passed my doctoral written and oral exams in 2012, and I am currently working on a dissertation on the linear, harmonic, and rhythmic implications of sonata forms that lack a double-return recapitulation in the music of several eighteenth- and nineteenth-century composers.

Favorite Books: I own and borrow many books. Some of my favorites over the last 15 years include the following:

• Letters to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke
• Howards End, E. M. Forster
• Deep Work, Cal Newport
• Ways of Worldmaking, Nelson Goodman
• Free Composition (Der freie Satz), Heinrich Schenker
• Miles: The Autobiography, Miles Davis
• The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco
• Coltrane: Chasin’ the Trane, J.C. Thomas
• The Sorrows of Young Werther, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
• Classical Form: A Theory of Formal Functions for the Instrumental Music of
• Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, William Caplin
• Elements of Sonata Theory: Norms, Types, and Deformations in the 
• Late-Eighteenth-Century Sonata, James Hepokoski & Warren Darcy;
• Playing with Signs: A Semiotic Interpretation of Classic Music, V. Kofi Agawu
• Deeper than Reason: Emotion & its Role in Literature, Music, & Art, Jenefer
• Robinson
• Music in the Galant Style, Robert O. Gjerdingen

Favorite Movies: Some of my favorite movies include the following: Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), Julius Caesar (1953), Jurassic Park (1993), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Annie Hall (1977), The Big Lebowski (1998), Howards End (1992), On the Waterfront (1954), Amadeus (1984), Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004), Good Will Hunting (1998), Robin Hood (1973), Synecdoche, New York (2008).

Favorite Area of Library
My two favorite areas in at the Yocum Library are the magazine stacks on the third floor and the shelf of new books as soon as you walk in on the second floor.

Special InterestsClassical music from 1600–1950, American post-war Jazz, the European Enlightenment, the philosophy of emotion, and music theory pedagogy.

Hobbies
Whenever there’s time, I enjoy playing the piano, composing, arranging, writing magazine and book reviews, reading comic books (Superman, Batman, Daredevil, and The Walking Dead) and The New York Review of Books, attending concerts, movies, lectures, and The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD series, listening to many diverse podcasts, and learning about computer-assisted technology efficiency (i.e., how to use technology to increase one’s personal productivity).

Anything Else You Wish to Share
On June 22, 2013, my wife, Erin, and I were married at the Merner-Pfeiffer-Klein Memorial Chapel at Albright College. We met in 2002 through our shared experiences in various music activities throughout Berks County. We are thankful for the opportunities we’ve had to travel to Europe (especially Italy, Belgium, and Croatia) and spending time with our family and friends (especially our nieces).

Meet the Staff: Carmelo LaMantia

Name: Carmelo LaMantia

Position in Library: Library Assistant (Student Work Study)

Educational Background: Currently going for my Associate's Degree in Accounting at RACC

Favorite Books: Clive Barker's Books of Blood and John Godey's The Taking of Pelham 123

Favorite Movies: The Great Escape, My Cousin Vinny, and Braveheart 

Favorite Area of Library: 2nd floor exploring the DVD collection and helping fellow students

Special Interest: Studying and performing magic. I collect wizards, dragons, and skulls. 

Hobbies: Cooking and baking

Anything else you wish to share that will help others get to know you: I am a peer tutor for Business Math and Accounting. I also perform close-up magic as Carmelo the Conjuror and for children's birthday parties under the name of Squish the Magish.