Name of Your Library (if applicable):
Logan Library
About Me:
I’m a humanist librarian advocating for libraries that value literacy and access to information collections funded by the people for the people, life-long education, intellectual freedom, privacy, honesty and accountability, communication and dialogue, kindness, community, diversity and inclusion, historical perspective and progressive thinking, egalitarianism and democracy, health and safety, ecological concern, and conclusions / decisions / policies / practices based on evidence and empathy.
I got my start as a shelver at my childhood branch library after dropping out of high school. I now have three degrees and have worked in four public libraries for a total of 23 years, including the last 18 at Logan Library and the last 17 as a professional librarian. Additionally, I was Logan Library's assistant director 2017-26 and interim director for five months 2024-25. My specialities include managing adult non-fiction collections (selection and deselection for the Dewey classes, biography, reference, local history, and educational audio/video), customer service, research, working with Friends groups, and defending intellectual freedom. I'm an active member of the Utah Library Association, the Cache Valley Historical Society, and the Cache Valley Library Association, which I helped establish more than a decade ago.
I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, when the atmospheric CO² level was 340 ppm (1980). I now live and work in Cache Valley, a home of the Northwestern Shoshone (nwbshoshone.com), when the CO² is at around 430 ppm. I'm happily married to Dr. Amy Spitzer Anderson (linkedin.com/in/amy-anderson-61a27780), Logan High School’s counselling department chair, and we have four daughters, one son, and two sons-in-law. A lifelong Anglophile, I enjoy reading The Guardian, the work of George Orwell, and mediæval English history; listening to Britpop, the BBC World Service, and the work of Ralph Vaughan Williams; watching Sky News, the work of Laurence Olivier, and adaptations of Brit lit; observing Anglican worship, Westminster politics, and UK-Éire relations; supporting Dorchester Town FC, the Three Lions, and the Lionesses; and reminiscing about our pilgrimages to Albion.
I finish reading an average of 22 books per year, about 2/3 non-fiction and 1/3 fiction. Join me on Litsy, LibraryThing, and BookWyrm @bibliothecarivs.
📷 Profile: Amy & me at our daughter's wedding in 2026 by Maya Mathis. Cover: The Smashing Pumpkins circa 1998 by Yelena Yemchuk.
