Karen Oesterle
Title: Head of Reference
Library: The New York Law Institute
Location: New York City
Website: http://www.nyli.org
Five Questions
1. Favorite thing about your job? I love the chance to do reference work interspersed with physical labor. We have recently downsized our collection and sent many boxes to LLMC for preservation and broader use, and it was fabulous to sort through and box up old works from England, Scotland, Ireland, and the US. We likewise sorted through bar association reports from the 1800s and early 1900s and shared those with bar associations and historical societies. For me, it’s all about finding answers for our members and new homes for unused items.
2. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why? I would dearly love to clone myself, as there is never enough time to do everything I want to do or see everything I want to see. If one could travel, one could work, one could read, that would be perfect!
3. Favorite quote? “Life is short and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who journey with us. So be swift to love and make haste to be kind.” –Henri Frederic Amiel.
4. Favorite book? I reread To Kill a Mockingbird every few years.
5. Last photo you took with your phone? Rice fields in Ha Long Bay, photo taken from the bus on the way to the airport to fly home.