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Public Employee Press
Sr. Librarian Susan
Scatena Purple hair and a Jell-O bath Senior
Librarian Susan Scatena will do just about anything it takes to fulfill her mission
of getting children to love reading. Is it worth a little public humiliation?
Thats OK with Scatena, who has a special talent for nutty schemes that convince
kids to read more. Last summer, 200 people showed up at the White-stone
Community Library in Queens to watch Scatena take a bath in a kiddy pool filled
with colored gelatin while gleeful children dyed her hair purple. That was Scatenas
way of rewarding kids who met the challenge of the librarys reading program.
Scatena had promised the kids whod signed up for the summer reading
program that shed take the Jell-O plunge if they would collectively read
1,000 books. Two hundred and fifty kids took up Scatenas challenge
and they read a total of 4,654 books. Ordinarily, about 120 children participate.
During the summertime, reading slows down a little because the kids
dont have to do book reports, said Scatena, the childrens librarian
at Whitestone. We wanted to grab their attention, and this obviously worked.
The librarys program caught the attention of the local media and bestselling
author James Patterson. In March, Scatena received a prestigious $5,000 James
Patterson PageTurner of the Year Award for coming up with the creative reading
program. She was among 39 individuals, schools and organizations honored for going
to extraordinary lengths to spread the joy of books and reading across the country.
We are all very proud of Susan, said Margalit Susser, president
of Queens Library Guild Local 1321. Her dedication shows how far our members
will go to promote reading and to provide the best possible library services to
the community. She is one of the Queens library systems wonderful treasures.
Scatena is a 25-year veteran of Queens Borough Public Library. As
a student, she considered becoming a teacher, but changed her mind after she worked
as a page in the library. She earned her undergraduate degree in early childhood
education at Queens Borough Community College and her masters from the Queens
College of Library Science. I thought it was quite an innovative
program, said Queens resident Barbara Yee-Lam, whose children Daniel, 6,
and Jessica, 4, devoured lots of books last summer. The kids really
enjoyed it. Yee-Lam has known Scatena for years, and says her
enthusiasm for reading is contagious. She really draws the kids into reading,
Yee-Lam said. We consider her part of the family. She is a wonderful asset
to the library and the community. Like many Queens children and
parents, Yee-Lam suspects that Scatena is cooking up another scheme for this summer.
But Scatena isnt talking. I dont know what Im
going to do yet, said Scatena coyly, speaking as if she were guarding a
state secret. Gregory N. Heires | |