About Me

Hello! I’m Laura, the blogger behind Literacious and I’ve been blogging since late 2010. I started this blog as a way to share my love of books and library programs with other professionals. The goal of my blog hasn’t changed much in the past few years, but I’ve wanted to reach out to a larger audience as book lovers come from all walks of life. Literacious is a place to explore children’s literature through book reviews, extension activities and programs related to books, and offers families, librarians, and teachers booklists and other resources to engage the readers in their lives.

Children’s literature is being published at such a fast rate, it’s difficult for anyone to really know all the great books being released every year. Finding time to explore all the books out there to find the right book for a reader in your life is not only difficult it sometimes feels impossible. That’s where I come in, I love sharing literature with people. The joy of getting the right books into the hands of the kids who want and need them is exactly why I started sharing my thoughts here on Literacious.

Childhood & Education

I was destined to be a librarian.  When I was seven years old, I asked the children’s librarian in my hometown if I could start working in the library. She broke my little heart telling me I had to be 14 to start volunteering. When you’re 7, 14 is a really long way off! But that didn’t stop me.

Two days after I turned 14, I stopped at the community library, filled out a volunteer form and haven’t looked back since.  I graduated with my MLIS from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2008 and began working as a children’s librarian in a suburb of Philadelphia serving about 30,000 people.

Now

After eight years focusing on programming and reader’s advisory for kids, I’m now working as a library director. My days currently consist of to-do lists, putting out figurative fires (thankfully not literal fires!), and ensuring my staff have the tools to best support our community.

• I believe that books can be windows and mirrors – windows into the lives of people who are different from you and mirrors to reflect your own life and choices you make.
• I believe in the power of diverse voices in all their forms – racial, cultural, religious, ability, and more.
• I believe that a child’s choice in their reading material creates lifelong readers.
• I believe that it takes a village to raise readers and my hope is that this blog can assist every child in finding the book that is right for them at just the right time.

Don’t miss the kid lit scoop! Make sure to sign up for my enewsletter. You’ll get a monthly newsletter with all the extra toppings you won’t find on my blog.

Follow me on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

And if you’re asking yourself, “Why an octopus with an ice cream cone?” You’ll find the answer in this post!