Tag: getting to know you

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Getting to know you

Vikki cuddling Sunny the ginger cat

Here’s lovely Vikki to tell us a little bit about herself.  Vikki now works downstairs in Falkirk Library as the Community Hub Lead Librarian, but used to work in Denny Library and in Grangemouth Library too. You might have heard Vikki’s voice on our Library Love podcast.

Favourite films – It’s impossible for me to come up with just one, so I’ll narrow this down to 5 in no particular order:

  • When Harry Met Sally
  • Dances with Wolves
  • Fargo
  • Westside story
  • Volcano

Favourite music – again impossible for me to narrow this down, so here are 5 favourites:

  • Billy Bragg
  • Gretchen Peters
  • Dolly Parton
  • Marvin Gaye
  • Nina Simone

Best place to read?  This varies depending on the season Winter tucked up in bed with a cuppa, or summer on a sun lounger with a big hat and a beer

Favourite food? Italian and Chocolate cake

Any pets? Sunny, a quite small ginger tom but with serious attitude

Which is your local library? Falkirk, though I usually and borrow something whenever I visit any others in Falkirk District, I just can’t help myself

What does your library mean to you? The past thirty years of my working life has been spent working in various public libraries both here and in England. Public libraries have always been a big part of my life, as an avid reader I would be lost without them.

What book recommendations would you like to share? I thought I’d share a list of what I’ve read for the past couple of months

  • The Hunting Party, Lucy Foley
  • The Family Upstairs, Lisa Jewell
  • The Giver of Stars Jojo Moyes
  • A Dark Matter, Doug Johnstone
  • The Other Bennet Sister, Janice Hadlow
  • Grown ups, Marion Keyes
  • Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbon
  • Peyton Place, Grace Metalious
  • The Cabin, Jorn Lier Horst
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Getting to know us (aka Librarian Love)

A smiling white woman with glasses is knittin. Text says 'Getting to know us - Tanya'

Tell us a little bit about yourself

Hi, I’m Tanya, I’m the Project Lead Librarian, based in Falkirk Library.  I’m quite often a voice in your ear in one of our Library Love podcasts. 

My favourite food is possibly my own vegetarian lasagne, or maybe gluten free veggie pizza with pineapple.  I’m not very good at picking one favourite thing (which regular podcast listeners will have realised), so my favourite film or music changes from minute to minute.

 My favourite place to read is probably in my bed, with lots of pillows and a hot water bottle, with a cuppa tea beside me

Which is your local library (or libraries)

Who knew that this would be a tricky question … Falkirk is my local, but my kids and I like to go to different libraries, so we also visit Grangemouth, Bo’ness, Larbert, Meadowbank and Denny libraries quite often.  We’ve only visited Bonnybridge once and have never visited Slamannan (gasp!)

Tell us what your library means to you

I’ve always been a reader and library user, but when I moved from England to Scotland when I was 14, the library became my wonderful safe space where I could enjoy reading, be helped by kind book loving staff, and journey to different worlds in the science fiction section. 

Nowadays, my library means that I don’t have to spend a huge amount of money buying books, as all my family read a lot.  I love that feeling of infinite possibility in even the smallest library – an adventure, the best recipe you’ve ever tasted, beauty, fun and excitement could be inside the next book you pick up.  All looked after by staff who want to help you have a wonderful time.

What book recommendations would you like to share?

Picture of a smiling white woman with glasses, looking at the camera and holding a book with the word 'Craftivism'
Tanya with her next read

If you haven’t tried Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series then you are really missing out – they are police procedurals set in modern day London, but where magic is real

A book to make you think is the wonderful  Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race by Reni Eddo-lodge – the title sounds a bit off-putting, but it is absolutely amazing

Craftivism: the art of craft and activism by Betsey Greer is the next book that I’m going to read.  I’ve enjoyed a couple of books on using crafts to make the world a better place and I’ve read some fantastic reviews for this book