The Many Hats of Librarian Paula Beasley
Photo provided by Rampage student photographer Malique Gordon
Although she worked as a school librarian for a couple of years, Paula Beasley prefers working with college students.
“You guys are a little bit more interested in education as opposed to just running through and grabbing all the picture books,” Beasley said.
The Co-Director of Library Services, Beasley has just begun her fifteenth year at Easley Library. Her warm smile and soft voice welcome students into the library, inviting conversation.
“If you frequent the library, she makes a point to learn your name and have discussions with students,” sophomore John Thompson said. “She is a great example of the positive community found at Bluefield University.”
He added that Beasley is “a caring person, who puts a lot of passion into what she does.”
However, becoming a librarian was not her original career path. Beasley spent three and a half years at Wingate University studying to be a teacher. People would ask her if she wanted to be a librarian, but she said no. As a semester of student teaching drew near, however, Beasley changed her mind.
“I just looked at what I was doing and thought, ‘I don’t want to do this,’” Beasley said. “And I think that’s kind of important for people to know, because I think students put a lot of pressure on themselves to know what they want to do immediately after they graduate. That’s hard. Sometimes you have to try things.”
Beasley came to Bluefield University and finished her senior year, graduating with an interdisciplinary degree in education, English, and history. She moved to Florida and got a job as a technical services librarian at Palm Beach Atlantic University, where she worked for ten years. During that time, Beasley obtained her master’s degree in Library Information Science, or M.A.L.I.S.
“When you go into these things, you tend to think, ‘I like to read; I’m going to become a librarian and read all day.’ That is not how it works,” laughed Beasley. “You read far less when you actually become a librarian than you ever did before, because you have all these other things that you have to do.”
Beasley directs most of the library’s programs and orientations. She usually spends her mornings working on program ideas and her afternoons working on “something a little bit less mental,” such as stamping, cataloging, and putting barcodes and spine labels on books.
“Libraries and librarians have lots of hats,” Beasley said, “so I don’t generally do the same thing every day.”
Werner Lind co-directs the library with Beasley. He described her as “an innately kind and helpful person, and one who takes her Christian faith seriously. She’s also quite conscientious in her work and very patient and approachable.”
Lind has known Beasley since she started working at Bluefield University in 2011 and considers her one of his close friends. He said she has been a “faithful prayer partner” in challenging times.
“More so than other library colleague I’ve had (at any library), Paula can form friendships with students, based on genuine interest in them and their welfare,” Lind said. “She has a magnetic quality which tends to draw students to her.”
One of her favorite things about working at the library is when a student comes up to her and has “actually learned something” from her presentations. She loves when students show her their final projects.
Beasley is responsible for keeping the library’s databases and technology up to date and functional. Lind called her “highly tech-savvy” and said she has helped him with tech issues in the library and with his home computer.
Growing up, however, her brother was the one who loved computers.
“I always loved to read, so I focused on books. And I always think it’s funny that now I spend most of my day on a computer,” Beasley laughed. “And I probably should have paid more attention to things he tried to teach me when I was twelve.”
An avid reader, Beasley said choosing a favorite book is “like trying to name a favorite child.” If she could meet any author, living or dead, she would have a tea party for Madeleine L’Engle, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Anne McCaffrey, all of whom had a big influence on her life.
“I tend to cycle between fantasy and science fiction, historical fiction, and kind of a mix of romance in there sometimes . . . recently, it’s been more of this historical fiction,” Beasley said.
Although she has lived in numerous states, Beasley says Bluefield is by far her favorite place that she has lived. When she is not working, Beasley enjoys reading, audiobooks, and animals.
“So that’s my life. Dogs, cats, books,” Beasley said. “And if the weather is nice, I like to get out and walk.”