Photo courtesy of Dana Polk.
Dana Polk, library director of the Chelsea Public library, reads her first story at the library.
Dana Polk, library director at the Chelsea Public Library, shared a picture of her first story time.
Q: What’s the story behind this photo?
A: The library was opened in 2001 ... A daycare called [and said], “Hey, you’re a librarian, can you do a story time for our kids?” And I’m like, “OK,” so I just pulled something together, and all these kids showed up, and we just kind of sat around and I read two or three stories. We didn’t do anything else, ... but it was the first. It was the largest group we’d ever had in the library at that time, and it was the first story time I ever, ever did.
Q: Tell us about you then. What was going on in your life?
A: I still drove a school bus. I had started driving a school bus in ‘95, I think it was, and I was happy, you know. I had my morning route, my afternoon route, and I was free in between.
Q: If you could go back in time to that day, what would you tell your younger self?
A: You’re not going to believe what you’ve started. I never could imagine where I am right now. You’ve got no idea where you’re going to be in 20 years.
Q: What might people be surprised to learn about your younger self?
A: I was very shy. I was so shy. I remember as a little girl, somebody knocking on our door at home, and I ran and hid behind the curtains. And I guess people talking to me now are like, “No way.”
