New Children’s Librarian Enjoys Helping People
WARSAW — Katie Warrener is the new children’s department head at the Warsaw Community Public Library. She recently moved to the Warsaw area from Oregon.
She grew up in LaGrange and Noble counties, attended elementary school in Kendallville and graduated from Lakeland High School in 1994. She went to IU-Bloomington and graduated in 1998 with degrees in Italian and linguistics. While in college, she had a chance to study abroad and spent her junior year in Bologna, Italy.
“I wanted to explore the world,” she said.
She moved to California after college and spent eight years living there. She later moved to Oregon, where she lived for 10 years. She obtained her master’s degree in library and information science in 2013. While living in Oregon, she decided libraries were of interest for her. She worked in different libraries in various capacities, starting by volunteering. She worked in the Oregon State University Library.
Warrener moved back to the Hoosier state this year and started working at the Warsaw Library April 26.
“I’m still in learning mode,” she said. “I love helping people solve problems and have a brighter day. Public libraries are so much about service and serving the public.”
She is currently assisting with the library’s five-year, strategic plan and how to incorporate the children’s department in the mix. She is also working with others on the library’s technology plan, as part of the five-year plan, as it relates to the children’s department.
She is also busy gearing up for the library’s summer reading program. This year’s theme is “On your mark, get set, read.”
Warrener also has an interest in the “Maker Movement” and the STEM programs in the Warsaw schools, as it relates to the library. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.
“I’m excited to get to know the other educators in the community,” she said.
Warrener, 39, lives in Warsaw with her dog, Maddy. She has a sister and nephews, who also live in Warsaw. An avid bicyclist, she bikes to work daily.
“I’m a pretty enthusiastic bicyclist,” she said. “I re-discovered bicycling while living in Los Angeles.”
Warrener said she is happy to be back in the Hoosier state.
“It feels like a homecoming,” she said with a smile.
(This story originally appeared in ‘the PAPER’ Wednesday, June 1)