Meet Technigal and Programma Mama (Get to Know Series, Part Six)

UPDATE April, 2021:   Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library discontinued notary public services in April, 2021.

 

 

Technigal's old "Cauli nickname" used to be Anime/Manga Gal, because she knows a whole bunch about the subject matter. But she is also head of MPL technical services, so a nickname change was the order of the day. She's "also also" a Notary Public, but two nicknames per staffer are plenty.

Technigal holding her Indiana Notary Public certificate

(February 2012)

Programma Mama is MPL adult programming coordinator.  She handled teen programming, too, until the Library hired Savvy, MPL teen librarian. P.M. arranged the afternoon music and dancing at the Library's 100th birthday bigbash last Saturday.  You probably saw the videos and photos.

Programma Mama at the Library's self-checkout terminal

during our centennial bigbash (May 12, 2012)

Both agree that their favorite color is red, although Technigal likes her reds mixed with brown and gold.  Programma Mama was quick to name No Doubt as her favorite band, but Technigal protested that asking a person who is her/his favorite band "is an impossible question!" because folks like so many.  Technigal certainly falls in this category--she has wide-ranging musical tastes--but she was able to narrow her top band list to M83, the Killers, and VNV Nation.  And Vienna Teng and Nickelback and Metric and . . .

Watch No Doubt in the studio working on a new release

(slated for Sept. 25, 2012)

Official music video of "Midnight City," by M83,

from the double album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming (2011)

Technigal was born in Texas, so she is a longhorn or a lone star or whatever nickname Texans have for themselves.  Programma Mama was born and raised in Mooresville.  Neither currently lives in Mooresville (Technigal in Plainfield, and P.M. in Southport), but that may change.  P.M. is moving back to town this summer.

Technigal has worked at the Library for just over two years [she also used to work at Brownsburg (Indiana) Public Library], and Programma Mama has been an MPL staffer for slightly over 3-1/2 years, when she first started in the Circulation Department.  What are their favorite things about working at MPL?

• Technigal:  "I really like the town and the people I work with! [MPL] Being voted the Business of the Month by the Mooresville Chamber of Commerce was an incredible feeling. It's amazing to work for a town that values its library so highly."

• Programma Mama best likes the "patrons and the programs that we provide for our community."

What are their favorite childhood memories of libraries?

• Technigal:  "Going to the library closer to my home (but in another town, so technically not "my" library--I can sympathize with people from Camby [Indiana]!) and seeing a gorgeous stained glass display.  It was the first time I realized libraries were more than books!  (The books were still my favorite part, though.)"

• Programma Mama:  "I loved calling up the library, and [having] a book read by one of the librarians.  Mooresville Library had a program set up that each week you could call and have a book read to you.  It was a different book each week.  So much fun.  I also have fond memories of going to the Mooresville Library with my grandmother who was a librarian herself, and I always would check-out the same book each time, but my grandmother would always make me look it up in the card catalog first.  Ugh!  Drove me nuts, but now I laugh, because she was teaching me the Dewey system that I now use today.  Funny how life does that."

Being from Texas, Technigal had some "culture shock" in acclimating to Indiana.  "Ask my opinion of 'elephant ears' [the fried food] sometime." I'm guessing that it's not flattering.  But Technigal seems to have made the transition to Hoosier without too many bumps and bruises.

Being a native of Mooresville and Morgan County has given Programma Mama a lifetime connection with the local folks.  That helps when you work at a public library.  Knowing your community is a critical component to effective librarianship.

What have I noticed in the time I have worked with these two ladies?  Well, when I first met Technigal in December, 2010, she made fun of my bellowing meow that I used to greet patrons entering the Library while I was hanging around outside the building (as I sometimes still do when not doing the roving reporter thing).  This did not endear her to moi, but I'm not a grudge-holder.  What has most impressed moi about Technigal is her fine attention to detail, her tenacity in complete and accurate cataloging, her ability to adapt to new challenges, the vast scope of her knowledge of current events, and her sense of humor.  Actually, I rank humor first, but that's just moi.  Patrons unfamiliar with the complexities of library technical services should know how truly fortunate they (and our staff) are to have Technigal leading the adult services cataloging adventure.  The world of AACR2 (and, soon, RDA), MARC records, LCSH, DDC 23, and all the other acronyms cataloging librarians know so well is not for the fainthearted.  (Ask her to explain what all those letter jumbles mean.)

Programma Mama's strongest traits are her personal warmth, friendliness, and enthusiasm for her work. As a library program coordinator, these are absolutely vital personality characteristics.  The job simply cannot be done without them.  But, above and beyond these, there is P.M.'s extensive local networking with prominent citizens and businesses.  That makes programs come together, with sponsorships and public support and word-of-mouth publicity.  Who you know makes things happen.

Job interviewers ask prospective employees where they see themselves in five years.  I hope Technigal and Programma Mama see themselves at MPL for that and much longer.  Five human years, after all, is slightly under a single feline year.  Time has a way of microscoping.  Or telescoping.  Something like that.

Not Sure What That Meant, But It Sounded Good,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Get to Know Staff News Beat

P.S.  Once again, our musical closers already happened.  Sort of takes the bite right out of these postscripts.