Katie Pausch

Tending to a veritable ocean of tomes ranging from A Space Odyssey to the Latin translation of Harry Potter is no doubt an endeavor in superhuman patience and organization. When the ocean in question is regularly swarmed by hordes of high school students, the Herculean task of librarian Katie Pausch, now in her second year at LFHS, becomes that much more spectacular.

The great cellulose sea is no longer just a refuge for students seeking a quiet place to study and read. The Library is a “multi-faceted place where a variety of people and programs come together with a variety of needs,” said EdTech Laura Grigg, who in addition to her duties maintaining school technology systems leads the Ted-Ed and Scholastic Bowl clubs, both of which meet in the Library’s ancillary classrooms.

“Managing a space like that is difficult, but Ms. Pausch does so in a way that is thoughtful, intentional, flexible, and friendly,” Mrs. Grigg said.

The guardian of the halls of knowledge is adept not only in managing physical space but also in using technology to keep one of the high school’s greatest assets ahead of the curve. Returning students will recall with grim distaste the endless Google Forms that spam the inbox as flies to a light. In the midst of that bitter rain of unrelenting vexation, there was a single strike of lightning that illuminated all the world — the Great Squishy Survey of 2019.

As the approaching end of January 2019 heralded the close of first semester, Ms. Pausch surveyed the student body on the subject of library usage. Eschewing the tradition of merely offering limited forgiveness to late fees, she promised free squishy toys to the first 200 students to fill out the survey and visit the Library. In the face of unforeseen logistical quagmires, she persevered and personally saw to it that the squishies were given out, and this poltergeist cannot possibly quantify the profound joy provided by its now-constant companion.

While most Google Form emails measurably detract from the enjoyment of a given day, Ms. Pausch has significantly improved days beyond numbering by taking the time to think outside the box and devise a brilliant, generous, and heartwarmingly whimsical excuse to give away squishy toys.

But squishy toys are not the only boon that the Guardian of the Library has bestowed upon the LFHS community. Ms. Pausch has also spent countless hours working with teachers “to get what they need,” said social studies teacher Cindy Collier.

Mrs. Collier, who teaches AP United States History and AP Seminar, frequently collaborates with Ms. Pausch, especially when the time comes for AP US students to write their research papers.

“I’ve seen the feedback she gives and it’s always on the money,” she said.

Books are peepholes into worlds that never were. Perhaps under Ms. Pausch’s careful stewardship, our Library may become a larger peephole, a seeding ground for a vision of a better world yet to come.