Here's what it's like to be an Austin children's librarian
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Austin librarian Jace Furches engages people of all ages at story-time. Photo: Asher Price/Axios
To launch an occasional new interview series with Austinites who do important but overlooked work, we're spotlighting the children's collection librarian at the Austin Public Library's Pleasant Hill Branch.
Having grown up in a military family that moved all around the South, Jace Furches moved to Austin nearly two decades ago and studied at the University of Texas, including graduate work in information and preservation.
- Furches started at the Austin Public Library seven years ago, starting as a clerk at the Yarborough Branch before becoming a circulation lead at the Old Quarry Branch and eventually a reference librarian at the Central Library downtown — and then a children's librarian at Pleasant Hill a little over a year ago.
- Part librarian, part performer, Furches' half-hour story times involve singing, dancing, call-and-response games and, of course, the reading of a couple of books.
- Favoring exuberantly patterned pearl-snap shirts, jeans and multi-colored sneakers, Furches looks the model of an Austin kids' librarian.
Have you always been a children's librarian?
"I had been working with adults at the Central Library, but with the pandemic I was looking for a change."
What do you like about the job?
"I'm able to come up with my own calendar, design my own events, get the creative satisfaction of putting things on and see work I've done make a difference in the lives of members of the community. That's emotionally satisfying. I don't see myself leaving the job any time soon."
Is it hard some days to be upbeat?
"I do love my job, but it's still work, and some days things are going in my personal life and I might not be the happiest, but when you start your day playing the ukulele, and be silly dancing and see little kids with smiles in their faces dancing around it's hard to stay down."
- "It feels like a privilege to have this job and I try to make the most of it. I try to really put myself into it."
The kids — and their parents — appear to genuinely love your appearances.
"It's amazing — it's like I'm a superstar to some of these kids."
If you go: You can find Austin Public Library events — including scheduled story times — here.