We begin a new column by asking a standard set of questions of some of the leaders within PNC.  Their answers may shed a small light on who they are and what makes them "tick".  Since we see each other so rarely (and some folks can rarely, if ever, attend the annual meeting), we hope this will help bridge the distance barrier.

Many of these questions were taken from the Bernard Pivot Questionnaire found on the Actors Studio webpage. Unlike the TV show, our colleagues were given these questions in writing ... so their answers may not be quite as spontaneous!

Kim Granath

Past-Chair, PNC/MLA

1. What is your favorite word?

cool

 

2. What is your least favorite word?

paradigm

3. What is different about working where you are know from previous jobs/places?

I have more opportunities to collaborate with colleagues and I can design and conduct my own research projects.

4. Is there anything surprising or unexpected about your job or work environment?

We make too many knee-jerk responses to complaints/criticism rather than thinking things through.

 

5. Do your outside interests help on the job?

Only when someone needs help with the daily crossword puzzle.

6. What turns you on?

Technology, especially gadgets.

7. What turns you off?

Lazy people.

8. Do you have family members and/or pets you'd like to tell us about?

The family would take a book to describe, but in short it's large, mostly male, very midwestern, and quite eccentric. It took my dad 30 years to finish the kitchen remodeling job that he started when I was in grade school, and for quite a while our front door didn't have a door knob. And the real crowd favorite: We used a baseball bat to keep the bathroom door closed.


I also have 2 very spoiled 11-year old Siamese cats: Cocoa Puff and Duke. For the most part they run the household.

 

9. What are your most satisfying hobbies or leisure-time interests?

I like to read trashy novels and play computer games.

10. What sound do you love?

Rock and roll music

11. What sound do you hate?

It's a tie between opera and country & western music

12. What profession other than librarianship would you like to attempt?

Forensic anthropology

13. What profession would you not like to participate in?

Business

14. Do you have any books, movies, recordings, etc. you would recommend? (variation - what book(s) are you reading right now? What is the last movie you saw?)

I'm currently reading "The Devil's Code" by John Sandford, and I don't often go to the movies, but the last movie I watched was Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. A book I often recommend to people is "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole. I also think that everyone should read "The Foundation Trilogy" by Isaac Asimov and "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien.

15. If you were to come back as an animal, what would you choose and why?

I'd come back as one of my cats because they're treated royally.

16. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

"What took you so long?"

Janice Bacino

Chair, PNC/MLA

1. What is your favorite word?

Well, this is very subjective, and it is hard to choose just one word, but I really like the word autumn. I like the way it sounds and looks. Now, I am not talking about meaning here, just the word itself.

2. What is your least favorite word?

Similarly, I think the word egg is unattractive. It has such a harsh sound.

3. What is different about working where you are know from previous jobs/places?

This is the most solitary job I have ever had. Most of my contact with others is by phone, email, or written notes left on my desk.

4. Is there anything surprising or unexpected about your job or work environment?

I suspect I have the smallest medical library in our region. My library is probably about the sized of a six stall public bathroom.

5. Do your outside interests help on the job?

I am a news junkie. I read newspapers, journals and listen to NPR all the time. Many times I have heard reports of a medical study or some other tidbit that helps me in getting information for my patrons. Secondly, the activities I or my family members are involved in or attend are often points of casual discussion with the doctors. I find that a casual discussion makes them comfortable with me, helps develop rapport and an information request will frequently follow.

6. What turns you on?

Feeling needed or useful. I get the biggest rush from finding exactly what someone needed. Sunlight is a good substitute for this feeling.

 

7. What turns you off?

Lack of humor in an individual or a situation.

8. Do you have family members and/or pets you'd like to tell us about?

My husband, Craig, and I have been married for 30 years and have a 19 year old son, John, who is a freshman in college. This past year we lost our big white dog, Max, and lost our two cats to old age the year or two before that. After many years of a full house, we are finding ourselves unattached again, of course except from each other.

9. What are your most satisfying hobbies or leisure-time interests?

I love to tackle home improvement projects -- from small to big. I do much of the work myself. However, I do notice my energy to complete these projects is waning. I adore watching pro football and basketball, and enjoy hockey to a lesser degree. I indulgently follow a soap opera (I wont't say which one), I sew occasionally, read sporadically, and exercise religiously. However, my favorite leisure time activity is spending time with my best friend, Debra, or going on walks with my husband.

10. What sound do you love?

This is going to sound so stereotypical, but silence is my favorite sound, probably followed by morning birdsongs or evening crickets.

11. What sound do you hate?

Gas motor lawn mowers on a sunny summer day.

12. What profession other than librarianship would you like to attempt?

Well, I would really like to be a carpenter or a woodworker.

13. What profession would you not like to participate in?

Being a salesman.

14. What book(s) are you reading right now? What is the last movie you saw?

I just finished reading Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. This writer spends several months working at minimum wage jobs (waitress, maid, WalMart clerk) in an experiment to see if, with a good work ethic, it is possible to support oneself. Not a spectacular read, but if you ever worked these jobs in your younger days or even if not, it may rekindle your sensitivity to the service workers you meet every day.

As for movies, just this weekend I rented the video The Russians are Coming, an old Mel Brooks comedy from the 1960s. I had never seen it. It was hilarious, stood the test of time, and had an interesting message, even moreso since we are no longer enemies, at least not as we were then. I always enjoy discovering these old jewels!

15. If you were to come back as an animal, what would you choose and why?

Oh, probably a cat. They have such lovely fur, and always look so smug and relaxed. I envy how they can lounge all day.

16. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Can't answer this one.

Bob Pringle,

Chair-Elect, PNC/MLA

1. What is your favorite word?

Serendipity

2. What is your least favorite word?

Any noun that's been turned into a really bad verb, i.e., unnecessary neologisms, e.g., "journaling" or "sciencing". Uggh!

3. What is different about working where you are know from previous jobs/places?

I've been here a long time, and I almost always enjoy coming to work. The people I work with are all bright, achievement oriented, and want to accomplish things. What could be better?

4. Is there anything surprising or unexpected about your job or work environment?

It's always changing, which keeps it interesting. I did not expect that!

5. Do your outside interests help on the job?

Yes - if anyone asks questions about camping, liturgy, mysteries or science fiction!

6. What turns you on?

Coffee. Well, good reference questions, too, or a good map, or...

7. What turns you off?

Lack of coffee (or chocolate). Bad writing, plotting, characterization...

8. Do you have family members and/or pets you'd like to tell us about?

No; they're fine as family members and pets. (We have one dog, a Springer Spaniel). My four boys are endlessly interesting and frustrating, but mostly to folks who know them. The interests Martha and I share only revolve a little around nursing - and more around libraries and education.

9. What are your most satisfying hobbies or leisure-time interests?

Reading and camping.

10. What sound do you love?

Miles Davis

11. What sound do you hate?

People running fingers over balloons.

12. What profession other than librarianship would you like to attempt?

Surveying.

13. What profession would you not like to participate in?

Medicine (esp.surgical).

 

14. Do you have any books, movies, recordings, etc. you would recommend?

Miles Davis "Kind of Blue". David Weber, C. J. Cherryh, Eric Flint, Terry Pratchett, Rudyard Kipling, ad infinitum. The list varies as I discover new writers and topics.

15. If you were to come back as an animal, what would you choose and why?

Bear - bright enough to enjoy good cooking, and big enough to get it! Also hairy and warm, with a generally favorable press.

16. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Bob Pringle - it's about time!

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