A New Face at the Library

For new teen librarian Theresa Foster, joining the staff of the Ocean County Library system is something like coming home.

A Stafford native and a graduate of Southern Regional High School, Foster started her librarian career in Atlantic County’s system, but said she was thrilled when she was chosen to fill a recently vacated position in Barnegat.

“My heart is in Ocean County,” she said. “I love it up here.”

And now, she said, she’s looking forward to getting to know the town’s teens and finding new ways to make them feel at home at the library.

Foster said that growing up, she "always had a love for reading and for books" –her first job was at the Village Booksmith on Long Beach Island.

An interest in art led her to get her bachelor’s degree in art history and studio art from Richard Stockton College, which she applied to a job organizing arts and cultural programming at the Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences in Loveladies.

While there, she found herself working closely with local librarians, and she loved what she saw.

“I started to realize how great the Ocean County Library is, how they do community programs and reach out through the entire library system,” she said, “and I wanted to be a part of that.” 

She went to work on a master’s degree in library science from Rutgers University, working full time and taking classes online – an educational path that added extra challenges, but was ultimately rewarding, she said.

A focus on the digital aspect of library organization – now a vital part of any major library system – helped Foster in her first position as a “virtual branch manager” in Atlantic County, where she helped synchronize the databases at various branches to make searching through collections easier for staff and visitors alike. 

“A lot of library science is about communicating with people using computer software, and about how they understand how to use the databases to find information,” she said.

In Barnegat, Foster will take on different roles, but she’s excited for the change and the chance to work with kids and young adults and incorporate them into programming at the Barnegat Branch.

“Now I’m at a reference desk, I’m working with teenagers, I’m doing outreach at the different schools,” she said.

She’ll also be taking the reins as leader and mentor of the various teen groups that meet at the library. There’s a gaming club and anime club – fun, educational meet-ups that give high schoolers a laid-back place to explore their interests – and a volunteer group, made up of community-minded youths who are closely involved in helping plan programs and activities for teens and younger children.

And there’s the really fun part of the job: book recommendations. Foster said she's usually juggling multiple books at time herself, keeping up with new releases for both adults and teens.

"I think young adult literature has come really far," she said. "It can be a little dark, but the kids are responding to it."

And, she laughed, “it’s not just about vampires.”

Foster’s first picks – from classics by Ray Bradbury to new titles from popular web publishers venturing into print – are on display in the library’s teen corner. It's a bright, spacious spot where comfortable chairs tucked into an arched window alcove invite kids to kick back with a book or a magazine.

It’s all a part of opening up the library to a sometimes overlooked demographic, and creating a space young people want to be a part of. “They can be comfortable that it’s a community center where they can come in just to hang out,” said Foster.

Ocean County’s libraries have managed to create such an atmosphere in part because there’s a great cooperative spirit among the teen librarians at the various branches, Foster said – and she’s happy to be joining in. 

“It helps with your programming when you can reach out to people who might have different ideas than you did, and who can share resources,” she said, and the same friendly sense of community exists among the staff members that make up her new Barnegat Branch family. "It’s a great team."