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Shining a light on the people who help make the Fresno County Public Library a place to grow. |
James Tyner
Poet and Library Kung Fu Master
Senior Library Assistant, Gillis Branch Library
Describe your typical day on the job. In one word - Hectic. I think many people assume library work is very slow paced, quiet, with lots of time for reading. I can tell you that’s not the case at all. I often equate working in the library to knowing martial arts. I call it Library Kung Fu. It’s active, fast paced, challenging, but very rewarding.
What would people be surprised to learn about you? I am a published poet. I discovered poetry almost by accident in college. The class I wanted was full and the only thing that fit into my schedule was a poetry class. After the first session, I was hooked. I graduated with my MFA degree in Creative Writing Poetry from Fresno State and my thesis, a book of poetry, was voted most outstanding thesis of 2009.
I’ve published over 19 poems and won a number of awards. You can read some of my poems at Avatar Review and Winning Writers, as well as Coal Hill Review where I won the 2009 Coal Hill Review Chapbook Contest. I also have poems published in the following anthologies: The Working Poet and Autumn House Contemporary American Poetry. Here I am reading my poem Watching the News in Spain.
What was your first paid job? My first paid job was at the Tower Super Market in the Tower District. I started off bagging groceries, but after a month, I was doing just about every job in the place.
Why did you decide to work at the library? As a young man, I traveled coast to coast and around the world – even living in Spain for a while. I returned home looking for something with more stability. Library work sounded different so I thought I’d give it a try.
What is your most memorable accomplishment during your library career? I love putting together library programs - everything from card games to poetry readings. A few years ago, I developed a series of gaming programs - role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. In the space of a year, these programs were so popular we usually had 60 people show up. In fact, these gaming programs were so popular the gaming company Wizards of the Coast sponsored me at a couple of library conferences to teach other librarians how to start their own gaming programs.
Just last fall, I coordinated a very powerful poetry program entitled Legacy: The Mexican American Poetry Movement in Fresno. It featured Fresno poets Michael Medrano, David Dominguez, Marisol Baca, Kenneth Chacon, Blas Manuel De Luna, Maceo Montoya, and others. People are still talking about it - the amazing poetry, all that incredible history in one room, and the great audience interaction.
What is your first library childhood memory? My first visit to the library was with my Dad in Venice Beach, California. We discovered a huge stash of comic books in the children’s area. I was amazed that a library would have comics. I’ve been pretty much hooked on libraries ever since.
What was the first book you read? As a kid learning how to read, I found most of the books in school very boring. Then I noticed a book with a monster on it, and a guy with a sword with a huge fleet of boats behind him. It was a children’s version of The Odyssey. I’ve been reading ever since.
What’s on your reading list now? The Runaways - a graphic novel by Brian K. Vaughan. It’s a new take on the super hero comic following a group of teens who find out their parents are actually super villains. Even if you’re not normally a comic reader, you'll find this book mind blowingly good.
Phantom Noise by Brian Turner is a book of amazing poetry. Turner is a local poet who served in the Iraq war, and many of his poems take place there.
Some of my other favorites are The Crystal Shard by R.A. Salvatore - a book with great characters, action sequences and tons of heart to delight Hobbit fans everywhere. And one of my favorite poems is Two Pictures of My Sister by Dorianne Laux – a contemporary poem that will absolutely stun the reader.
Where are your roots? I was born in Santa Monica, California, and raised in Venice Beach. I moved to Fresno when I was 12. My Mom was born and raised in Fresno and my Dad still lives in Southern California so both places are really home for me.
When I’m not at work you can find me…enjoying home life with my wife and baby. But once a week, you can catch me gaming with friends at Crazy Squirrel game store.
Nance Espinosa
Special Collections Librarian/Government Documents Coordinator
Give us a snapshot of your career at the Library.
I started working part time for the Library in 1992 while attending Fresno State to become a teacher. I liked working at the Library so much I didn’t pursue teaching when I graduated. Instead I became a full time library assistant in the Government Documents and Reference departments at the Central Library. Eager to learn even more, I went back to school and earned my Masters of Library and Information Science in 2003.
After I graduated, I was the Caruthers Branch Librarian. Then I returned to the Central Branch to take over Government Documents from my mentor Karen Aughinbaugh who was retiring. I am currently the Librarian in charge of special collections including our William Saroyan materials, government documents, genealogy, magazines, California history and local history to name a few.
Why the Library?
I initially wanted to be a teacher in the traditional sense. But I found out the Library could be my classroom and I could teach life long learning right here. Also, I consider myself somewhat of a bibliophile. I don’t just need to read books. I need to surround myself with them. Kind of like the ocean. I don’t need to swim in it everyday, but I’d like to be close to it. And while it might sound dry and dusty to some, I am passionate about government documents and making this wealth of useful information more accessible to everyone.
Where are your roots?
I was born at Fresno Community Hospital. Since then, I’ve lived in a lot of different cities in California; places like Malibu, Mountain View, San Jose, Lee Vining, June Lake, Santa Cruz, Capitola, Goleta, Reseda, Torrance and Van Nuys. You could say I’m sort of a California gypsy!
What’s your latest up-and-coming project?
I’m very excited about our collaboration with the Pop Laval Foundation. Their collection of local history photographs is fascinating. Over the next year, we’ll work with the Foundation to scan 1,200 images from their collection and then add those images to the Library’s San Joaquin Valley Photo Heritage Project. It’s important these records of family and community life are preserved before they are lost forever.
What’s the best part of your job?
I get to learn something new every day. As a reference librarian, and now the Librarian for the California History and Genealogy Room, I help people find answers to their questions. In the process, I always end up learning something new. In fact, I just discovered that in 1950 Tarpey Village was named after Irish immigrant Michael Francis Tarpey who had a vineyard on Clovis Ave. between Gettysburg and Ashlan. He also founded the Fresno Irrigation District.
What’s your favorite book?
My all-time favorite is 1984 by George Orwell. No matter when you read it, the book raises issues we’re still grappling with today. It’s timeless.
What’s on your reading list?
I am currently reading Call of the Wild by Jack London since it’s going to be our book for the Big Read in the spring. That’s leading me to read books about the California Gold Rush and comparing it with the Klondike Gold Rush. My guilty pleasure is the Vampire Chronicles series by Anne Rice.
