Love in the Stacks: Meet RWA's 2015 Librarian of the Year

The annual Romance Writers of America's award season is upon us. This year's Librarian of the Year award will go to Lisa Schimmer, NoveList cataloger. NoveList's database helps millions of librarians match the right book to the right patron.

Christyna: Please tell us about what you do now and what library experience you've had in the past.

Lisa: I'm a cataloger at NoveList, which is a readers' advisory database that you can access through your local public library if it has a subscription. Our goal is to help librarians help readers (or help readers help themselves) find the next book they want to read. I do this by cataloging books: assigning genre, subjects (who are the characters? what is the book about? where does it take place?), and tagging the overall feel of the book — what we call appeal. This enhanced bibliographic record now becomes a tool in the database, allowing users to find books based on their genre/subject/setting/series/appeal and linking together similar titles.

Prior to NoveList, I cataloged at a couple of special libraries at the University of Illinois, where I got my master's. I used to work primarily with government documents, and it's really nice to catalog something I actually read. Although it also means my reading list is long and constantly growing and I will never get to everything, sadly.

Christyna: Why romance? Why promote it?

Lisa: Short answer: Because romance is awesome and I love to read it. My job is to facilitate pleasure reading and I knew I could improve access and utility of the romance collection in our database by thinking as a romance reader and a cataloging librarian.

Long answer: I've been a librarian for almost as long as I've been a romance reader, and romance doesn't always get a lot of love from non-romance-reading librarians. Every book has an audience and I wanted to provide meaningful access to the romance audience. Calling out situations and tropes that readers love (or hate) makes it easier for them to find a satisfying experience. By using the same genre terms readers use (and more of them), a barrier is removed and librarians and readers (and our database) can speak the same language.

Christyna: How did you find out about winning the 2015 RWA Librarian of the Year award?

Lisa: RWA President Cindy Kirk called me. I didn't answer the phone because I was watching a tense NCAA tournament game with my husband and some friends. When I checked my voice mail during a timeout, I was completely floored. I knew at some point that I had been nominated, but I never thought I would win. My work is highly visible, but I am not. It was strange (and exciting) to think that people outside of the office knew who I was. I did manage to pull myself together and call Cindy Kirk back and accept, but it was surreal. I spent the rest of the evening squeeing on the phone with my best friend. (And my husband's team, N.C. State, went on to win that game and advance in the tournament. It was definitely a win-win.)

Christyna: What does winning the award mean to you?

Lisa: It's incredibly validating! As someone who works very much behind the scenes and more with data than people, it's amazing to be publicly recognized. And as someone who loves romance so very much, it's especially meaningful to be recognized and appreciated by the romance community. Since the work I do is somewhat isolated, it feels awesome to be brought into the fold.

Christyna: What are some of your future goals related to being a librarian and the romance genre?

Lisa: I'm a cataloger through and through, so I want to make it easier for readers to find books! Now that we've completed a huge project on updating and expanding romance genres in our database, I'd like to broaden our usage of a "sensuality scale" for romance books, and would also like to explore identifying popular tropes that are found in romances, like "secret babies" and "friends-to-lovers." I think this would be a great way for readers and librarians to be able to search for books they will enjoy (or conversely, avoid things they know they don't like). For the record, I am a fan of secret babies. I tend not to be a fan of bikers; I drive a Prius no more than 9 miles over the speed limit, ever.

Christyna: What are some of your favorite romance novels?

Lisa: There are so many! Beast by Judith Ivory is probably my all-time favorite. Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale is up there as well. Marsha Canham's Scotland trilogy is pretty epic. Julianne Donaldson's Edenbrooke is amazing and I highly recommend it. I've enjoyed the Ministry of Marriage/Westruthers series by Christina Brooke immensely. I reread the Bridgerton series last summer for the umpteenth time (Anthony, Francesca and Hyacinth are my favorites). I plan on rereading Mary Balogh's Bedwyn saga this summer. I'm up to the minute on Kristen Callihan's Darkest London, Jennifer Ashley's Mackenzies & McBrides and Eloisa James's Desperate Duchesses. When I'm not reading historicals, I like Ruthie Knox's About Last Night, Julie James' About That Night and Virginia Kantra's Carolina Man. I could go on and on, but I need to stop — mostly because making this list makes me want to go home and pull out my books and just read!

Despite being born with a disability, Christyna Hunter has surpassed all perilous predictions. She graduated from college where a friend introduced her to romance novels, started a freelance writing career, self-published two romance novels, and worked at a non-profit organization. Currently she works as a library associate with Loudoun County Public Libraries in Virginia, reads romance novels in her free time, and prays often to her writing muse. Check out her blog at christynahunter.wordpress.com.