Pop Goes the Librarian—Sophie Brookover

Sophie Brookover, Camden County Library, Voorhees, NJ

By Staff -- Library Journal, 3/15/2006

What do pop culture, new librarians, and teens have in common? Sophie Brookover, who weaves these divergent strands into a coherent and creative library career.

As comoderator of the NEXGENLIB-L list for GenX and GenY librarians, Brookover believes its “biggest impact is the feeling of community that it created.” List members can connect with others facing the challenges of being the youngest staffer in their library.

As a teen librarian, Brookover wishes that more libraries would overcome their “lack of enthusiasm for teens” and see their YA librarian as “a resource person, a shoulder to cry on, a role model, and a friend wrapped up in one.”

As a pop culture evangelist, Brookover says that “the question is what can’t we learn from pop culture.” Her blog, Pop Goes the Library, “grew out of my desire to bring my work life and my real life closer together.” “Pop culture is a huge part of what drives people young and old alike to their libraries,” says Brookover. “They want to see that we take their interests seriously, that we have books…about… NASCAR…that we’ve installed Jay-Z’s Black Album on our listening stations….” Brookover pop-culturized her library last winter with her very own Fear Factor challenge: clam milkshakes!