We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nori Morganstein. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nori below.

Nori, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

I have been the Assistant Director and Youth Services Librarian of a Public for 10 years. Not only do a lot of people not understand what my job entails (folks still think I read books all day), but my job has seen so many big changes over the years. My field has grown exponentially in regards to technology, but also local and state politics effect public libraries too, and that never stays the same. I think in large part due to these ever-changing constants, often people in my career can be hesitant to stray from the standard path of the typical library programs. I’m not going to lie; sometimes there can be a backlash if we stray too far from what is expected.

We’ve all seen the news stories coming up about Drag story times, and hateful comments on social media about librarians that stand up against censorship. How do I personally differ from the norm? When I started getting a lot of concerned questions about whether our library was banning books, I wanted to do something. I started a Banned Books Club. The club talks about what is happening in the news each month, and then we discus a different banned book, everything from To Kill a Mockingbird to The Hate U Give. We discuss why it’s been listed as banned, but also why we really think people are banning it too. The club provides a safe space for discussion and questions, something public libraries today are all hoping to provide.

I cannot say I have had no negative response to this book club, but the positive response far outweighs the negative. I am also currently lucky enough to live in a state that is not banning books at the state level and does not have legislation in the works to do so. As of April 20, 2023 according to Everylibrary.org, there are currently 114 bills in the 2023-2024 session, country-wide, that have the possibility of effecting school and state libraries and Americans’ freedom to read. Thankfully, my library has a good Collection Development Policy in place (that I helped write), to protect us too. All of these things are contributing factors for why I can act differently than the industry standard. But, I also avidly stand by ALA’s the Freedom to Read Statement, and think now, more than ever, is the time for us to be having these discussions.

Nori, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a librarian, but I’m also a book reviewer/blogger, and an artist. I’ve been reviewing books for young people for 12 years on my blog. When I was younger I alway thought my obsession with books would lead me down the path to becoming an author. I have a BA in English/Creative Writing. And a Masters in Library and Information Science. While a large component of being a librarian is reading book reviews and purchasing books for the overall collection, in a sense immersing yourself in the book world, I’ve yet to write a book for publication.

I’d say two of my biggest strengths in my profession are my abilities to problem solve and to encourage growth in others. When things took a turn in 2020, and public libraries couldn’t do what we were designed to do, I was put to the test. How could I still reach the public? How could I still help young people? How could my staff keep morale up in our community? But, also, how could I keep morale up with my staff when everything at work was so uncertain? I got organized in a way I never did before. I setup my kitchen table like an office/recording studio. I setup weekly phone and zoom meetings. I created jobs for staff who didn’t have enough to do, who’s main jobs before were checking materials out to patrons. Now, they were creating book lists (that are still widely used today). We made videos. So many videos. I have digital story times, digital craft videos, digital instructional videos, digital concerts, and more. We even made a tour of the library following one staff-person’s pet that she got during Covid, when the patrons were missing the inside of the library. I created digital escape rooms. Then, when we got back in, we made take-home kits, and more videos. I often get recognized at random stores because I believe the Local Access TV channel still plays some of these videos on loop.

The library was only closed for a couple of months. We opened for curb-side and then more services after that. But during those two months, I also found art. I’ve never been one for sitting still too long. During my Zoom meetings, I started drawing and painting. I found I’d continue to create things even after my meetings were over. I much prefer to create things when my computer is far away. It’s my time away from screens and away from everything really. I started posting my paintings on Instagram and I received such positive feedback that I agreed to work toward having an art show and a website. I haven’t started selling on my website yet, but I’m on the way there. I’ve had my art on display at my library, and it will be on display at another library this spring. I also have some pieces at a gallery. I only started painting in 2020, and I might not have found this outlet if not for my library shutting down.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

As a librarian, I had to answer the book question. Dear Librarian by Lydia M. Sigwarth is technically a picture book, but I often think of it when a difficult situation presents itself at the library. Its’ the story of a young girl who house-hops with her large family and often has to share a sofa or tiny living space with many siblings. She’s essentially homeless. However, she finds sanctuary in a public library, where she has some space to herself and where a kind librarian reads a book to her. Eventually her family gets a home of their own. And the girl grows up to be a librarian, herself. When there’s a difficult patron at my library, or my staff is struggling with a difficult patron, I’ll sometimes think of this book and think about how I don’t know what the patron is going through and what their living situation might be. I want to always channel the librarian who chose to read to the child who needed to be read to. I know no one is perfect, and some days it feels like there are more difficult patrons than nice ones, but this is a remarkable book with a remarkable message of kindness, that shows how vastly powerful one small act of kindness can be. Everyone should read this book.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I feel like there’s a lot of obvious overlap in everything I do. I’m a librarian, so it makes sense that I review books. It also makes sense that books inspire my artwork. Books, writing, and painting all have things in common. In thinking hard about my answer to this question though, I found something that connects them all that I didn’t really realize before: human connection. I love chatting with people online about the artwork I create. One of my art pieces was on display at my library and was in the background of a Library video on Instagram. Because of that, I connected to someone from another state, learned about her cats, and sent her a print of the painting. The painting happens to look exactly like her cats. And she now follows my art page. I know that seems like a small thing, but I love that. I’ve had other people find me at work and want to know if I’d paint their pets. I paint a lot of animals. In 2020, when I started, I was feeling alone and in need of a project. Art became my project, sure. But, also, it became this new way for me to connect to people. It’s a little strange because when I paint, I zone out of everything. I turn away from my phone and computer. It’ my time away from the news and social media. But when my piece is done, it’s the opposite, and I want to connect with everyone. It’s what I’m calling the most rewarding aspect of being an artist -this overall connection to people (and their pets).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://noriswall.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noriswall/
• Other: http://noriscloset.blogspot.com/