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Published on 01/26/1998 All articles from this issue

Community support attracts librarian

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue

Town Crier Staff Writer

Cheryl Houts had always wanted to be a children's librarian. When she went back to school 10 years ago, she studied child development and "laid the foundation," she said, for her dream.

Now her dream is reality. Since Dec. 15, Houts has been the children's program librarian in Los Altos. That means she is in charge of all library services for children at both library branches in town, the main library and the Woodland branch.

"The ambiance, the support of the community, that's a large part of the reason I wanted to come here," Houts said.

She looks around the children's room and smiles at the kids and parents using the computers, at the moms and toddlers choosing books. Her eyes twinkle at the life-sized Curious George sitting next to the entrance.

"It's a perfect setting," she said.

Sitting on some purple climbing cushions in front of a wall of windows in the children's room, Houts talks about her path to Los Altos and what she sees ahead.

When she went back to school in 1988, her three girls, then 6, 8 and 10, were all in school for the first time.

"Once they started full time, then I went full time," Houts, 45, said.

Armed with her secretarial degree, she began taking general education courses at West Valley College in Saratoga.

In 1990 she earned her bachelor's degree at San Jose State University and in 1992 her master's degree in library science.

She began in the Santa Clara County library system, of which Los Altos is a part, as a rotating substitute in 1991, and worked in all the branches except Gilroy and Morgan Hill.

The job offers came, each one a promotion.

"She has a very good reputation in the library community," said Houts' boss, Los Altos librarian Carol Tefft. "I feel very lucky to have (had) a shot at getting her. She's extremely open to new ideas. With the library world moving so quickly, it's wonderful to have someone so flexible."

Houts follows the beloved Molly Tod, who served as children's librarian in Los Altos for 29 years.

"A tough act to follow," Tefft said. "But Cheryl brings wonderful talents, and we're confident she'll do a wonderful job."

Houts said Tod had such skill at organization, "that it's been tremendously easy to step in."

In addition to maintaining the collections of books, videos and CD-ROMS in the children's room, Houts wants "to reach out to the schools. We can't be the school library, but we can be a support to the needs of the students."

She has a letter going to all elementary school principals in town. "You want teachers to call and let us know if they've given an assignment to 60 kids, so we can put things on to temporary reference so all the materials don't go out the door with the first students who arrive."

Her experience in most of the other library branches in the county system "is serving me well," she said. "I have ideas of things that work in other places."

Another goal, she said, "is my own story time. That's a favorite part of my job."

In some of the county library branches, particularly in Gilroy and Morgan Hill, parents have picketed and protested Internet access to children, demanding software filters be put on the computers.

"We continue to promote the Internet," Houts said, and that includes the special family classes on the Internet. "We empower them (children and their parents) to use this great tool and not to switch it off out of fear.

"We have bookmarks on the Web to help beginners. We've highlighted what we think are great sites - for children and teens - and organize them by topic. But anyone can go to any site."

At the Internet classes, "We teach the children to consider the source - is it one person, a university, a government? You have to teach people to be critical thinkers, especially children," Houts said, "that not everything they see or read on the Internet is true."