Arts & Entertainment

Radnor Librarian Starting New Chapter

Extend your best wishes to Dorothy Carlson in this article.

Dorothy Carlson has spent the last 42 years of her life helping Radnor children foster a love of learning.

After years of puppets and presentations, story times and quiet times, the Head of Children's Services at is retiring. But Carlson is not just going to sit back and read some books.

The Future

She's relearning Spanish, for one. She is also preparing to become a lay counselor at her church, the in Wayne.

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In a program called, "Have Hope, Will Travel," Carlson regularly brings her two-toed sloth puppet, named Hope, with her to visit residents of the Wayne Center nursing home (who may need a little "Hope").

Last but not least, she will also be bringing her Mother Goose on the Loose program to young children in Norristown. She may also be popping up occasionally in preschools around Wayne to read to children.

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Chapter One

For Carlson, a native of Tenafly, New Jersey, her love for libraries started at a young age when she was invited to help her high school librarian. She then became a page at the Tenafly Public Library.

She earned a degree in English at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (now Eastern University) and a Master of Science in Library Sciences at Drexel Institute of Technology (now Drexel University).

Despite a severe stutter, which she has since worked hard to control, she was hired to work at Radnor Memorial Library and the rest is history.

Over 42 years there are too many highlights to retell, but Carlson said she has loved working with children and adults who have had to persevere through some challenge.

Perseverance

"I've seen people overcome issues of all kinds," she said. "They have come back to say 'This is what I have accomplished and thank you' and if I'm allowed I hug them."

The creativity of the job has really suited Carlson, who said that she loves to teach using the dozens of puppets she has purchased over the years at the library.

"I love puppets... I communicate more through a puppet," she said.

As soon as Hope the two-toed sloth appears and rests on Carlson's arm, her demeanor changes. Her voice changes. Her stutter disappears. But the job is not just music and puppets. In fact, she did not get a full-time Children's Services employee until she was there 38 years.

For people who think she just sits and does stories and songs, "How do you think it all gets scheduled and produced? It's a huge job."

Family Place

Last year Carlson and the library were awarded a grant for Family Place, a series of parent-child workshops and a space for children to play in the library's children's department.

The "crowning glory" of , Carlson said, is 123 Grow, a five-week program for a limited number of participants. Caretakers and children gather weekly for play and learning on how to care for children.

"I have wanted this for so long," she said of Family Place, despite the fact that the grant brings a heavy paperwork burden.

"Dorothy created modern children's services at the Radnor library: regular story times geared for different age groups, bringing in performers, in depth reader's advisory for both children and adults--and of course her most recent initiative, Family Place," said Kathy Mulroy, director of the Radnor Memorial Library. "She is leaving an amazing legacy of quality service to the Radnor community, one the library will do its utmost to maintain."

Saying Goodbye

Carlson is retiring at the end of June. You can stop by an open house the library is holding for her on Sunday, June 24 from 1 to 4 p.m. (There will be a special music concert for children ages 3 and older and their families at 2 p.m. in the Winsor Room.)

"I wish everyone would have a job that they love as much as I have," she said.

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