A Children’s Librarian’s Bag

Name: Cara MacKenzie

Pronouns: They/Them

Occupation: Assistant Head of Children’s Services

Location: New Britain Public Library

I find that reading children’s books is very cathartic; it helps me relate to my inner child. The emotions are so big in them in a way I can relate to, and when you’re a kid and have all these crazy things going on, you have no real way to . . . there’s just so much unknown to what you’re experiencing. I find that really validating to read about because I feel like I don’t know what’s going on with myself half the time, either.

I had always loved books, and I had always thought about what it might be like to be a librarian. I first worked in circulation [after graduating from undergrad], and after a couple of months I was like, ‘I’m really enjoying this, I like the atmosphere.’ I believe that everyone who works in a library should work in circulation at some point; you’re working with the community and providing resources, but it is exhausting. It was there that I started doing Pride programming—I was working with all ages—and I realized that I really like working with kids.

Baggu Chocolate Plum Cargo Bag:

It has a lot of pins on the outside. One of them I made here for Pride Month—it’s a cover of a book called ABC Pride. I also have Hello Kitty wearing a keffiyeh and holding a Palestinian flag. I have this macramé keychain that a friend from undergrad made me; I have to be careful what bags I bring when I’m going out to story time because if I bring a bag with key chains, the kids will not pay attention to the story, they’ll just play with the key chains the whole time.

Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

These are incredible because, in my office, children are constantly . . . I love the kids, but they’re yelling all the time. If I’m up here [Children’s Services Office] and I’m not working directly with kids, I might need to concentrate a little bit more to do my ordering and stuff like that. Putting these on and not being able to hear anything makes my day.

Tiny Notebook:

I write to-do lists. Technically, do I use them? Probably not. I’m actually—probably not great to say this—very disorganized.

My notebook has this rainbow design and the inclusive trans flag. There’s a lot of queer people in library school, which makes me feel really good. I will say, though, there’s an underrepresentation—there’s a lot of White queer people and there’s an underrepresentation of almost everyone else in library science. But I think there’s definitely been a turning in terms of the diversity in the library world, or there’s starting to be.

Ginormous Scrunchie:

I always keep an absolutely ginormous scrunchie on me because I do a lot of programming here. I do crafting—Crafty Creatives Club—once a week, I do STEAM sessions once a week, homeschooling, story times, stuff like that, and I’m one of those people that gets really sensory-overload[ed] about my own hair. I’ll be like, ‘I need this out.’ I also like the way it looks; it’s like a big floof on top of my head. It makes me feel very children’s librarian.

A Book:

I usually have one to three books in my bag at all times; I like to have options. World Made of Glass is about a girl whose father had AIDS during the AIDS epidemic, and her experience losing her dad, as well as protesting for better treatment and quality of life for AIDS patients.

At the moment, I only read middle-grade children’s books; it helps me recommend books to kids when I’ve actually read them. I’m most interested in those that explore heavy topics in an accessible way for kids, because I feel that children’s books can convey deep emotions in a way that adult books sometimes struggle to.

Featured Image: Cira MacKenzie / Photo Credit Joey Feliciano