Local librarian wins state award

One of the Johnson County Public Library’s most effective librarians often finds herself away from the Clark-Pleasant branch where she works.

Children’s services librarian Sue Salamone primarily helps the area’s youngest readers find books, but her impact on the community reaches far beyond the library’s walls. She also spreads the word about library services and programs by speaking at local schools as well as visiting the Christina Place and Country Charm retirement communities, where she brings books for residents to read and discuss with her.

Her work has earned her the Outstanding Librarian Award from the Indiana Library Foundation, an award that the foundation gives one Hoosier librarian each year, said Tisa Davis, the foundation’s spokesperson.

“She’s responsive to community needs; she goes out into the community,” Davis said. “One of the things is going into schools and working with teachers. Homeschooling groups come to the library and she helps with that. She helps parents when they need help finding different resources.”

Salamone has worked at the library for 17 years, but she considers her time there to be anything but work, she said.

“I get paid to have fun,” Salamone said. “I love reading to children and finding resources for any age. We go and read to different local kids, there’s a lot of kindergarten classes in the Clark-Pleasant area. I go to churches and Sawmill Woods Preschool and we divide (visits) among the children’s librarians.”

During her visits, Salaomone talks about various library programs such as Explore Winter and Explore Summer, seasonal programs that give prizes to students who check out books from the library, Salamone said.

She has also helped promote Read Alongs, a list of books that the library suggests parents and teachers read to their children and students based on age and grade level, she said.

One of Salamone’s greatest talents is getting students to love reading, said Davin Kolderup, Clark-Pleasant branch manager.

“I’ve worked with Sue for 12 years. She’s the most dedicated librarian I’ve ever worked with and I’ve worked with a lot of talented and dedicated librarians,” Kolderup said.

“Where she shines most is helping kids learn to love reading. She knows the best books for kids struggling with reading, to help them latch on to that world and find something they love and introduce that into their lives. With the random interactions with kids, parents and grandparents, and the outreach to schools, she’s a rock star here. Kids come in here and know her from school outreach and want to tell her what they’ve been up to years after.”