Introducing Kari Dawn, Circulation Librarian
Photo by Jennifer Stubbs
Hi! Kari Dawn Kolander here! I am the newest member of the Ruidoso Public Library family. So, who am I and what makes me tick? Life and all its blessings of course! Daddy was in the Air Force, so our family, mom, brother (Kevin) and I got to travel quite a bit. Born in Michigan, we headed down south to Texas, then to Germany, with our final destination in California, smack dab in the middle of wine country! In my late teens, after a time in retail sales, I became the manager of a Sprouse Reitz store in southern California, growing up terribly fast as Los Angeles life was a huge change from the country life I had left in the San Joaquin Valley. Years later, I returned home, driving taxi, managing the Greyhound station, and being a courier for Bank of America. My schedule sent me to Yosemite once a day. It was beautiful!
I began my college career at 35, wondering why those young whippersnappers even bothered getting out of bed. They didn’t seem to care. I, on the other hand, absorbed the knowledge gained like a sponge, taking on the challenge of “education” as my choice of degrees, with a focus in MATH. Yikes! Like most people, I treated math like the plague! Yet through my research, obtaining my Bachelor of Science and a test away from my Masters, I began to understand students and their fears of math. I tutored college classes, wrote on math fears, and even taught beginning algebra. The tricks? Find out what triggered the fears and tackle them AND treat math as a puzzle, one where the picture is not available, yet knowing, in the long run, all the pieces WOULD fit together. Although each journey could be different, the end result, if obtained properly, would ultimately be the same. Kinda like life! Hmmm.
My talents have now brought me to the Ruidoso Public Library. Being a child at heart, I felt right at home when I worked part-time in the children’s department for the summer reading program. Now I have moved upstairs, meeting, greeting, and assisting everyone – full time. I love my job!
Fun stuffs? I love ol’ west history and dress up for Lincoln Days and Fort Stanton Live – just for fun. I like playing with kitty cats, cooking, watching old movies, listening to good ol’ country music, making denim quilts, singing, being creative, camping, and just in general, positively enjoying life and all it has to offer. Thank you Lord! So, this all being said, see ya at the library!
