Mrs. Dinino
The Thursday before February vacation I got the chance to interview the librarian, Mrs. Dinino. Some of the things we talked about was books, the library, how it is being the librarian of Bonny Eagle middle school, and what she did before she came to our school. It was a pleasure talking to her!
During her time at college, Mrs. Dinino was a waitress at many restaurants over the years. Working as a waitress helped her to pay for college. At college, she realized that her career was going to be a librarian. Other than working at her job, she likes to run, garden, get together with friends, cross country, downhill ski, and go to the beach, which she does just about every day in the summer.
Before coming to Bonny Eagle, Mrs. Dinino was the librarian at multiple places, including Berwick Academy in Maine for five years, Kennebunk Elementary for two years, and for eight years she worked as a librarian in upstate New York. This is her seventh year as librarian here at Bonny Eagle. She decided to become a middle school librarian because middle schoolers are old enough to have interesting conversation with her about different topics like books!
When Mrs. Dinino came to Bonny Eagle, she was leaving an elementary school to come back to being the librarian at a middle school. She thought back to past time of being the librarian at the middle school. She needed to understand how this school operated, so she spent time just observing and reaching out to students and other teachers as well. She eventually started doing book reviews on Thursdays, started the regular classes coming to the library, and she started the student volunteer program.
Right now Mrs. Dinino’s favorite book is Refugee by Alan Gratz. She said that the author masterfully weaves together three refugee stories. The book spans the decades and worlds together as well. The author, Alan Gratz, has also written Prisoner B-3087, which is in the library. One of Mrs. Dinino’s favorite authors is Morgan Matson. She said that she enjoys reading her books for “fun reading.”
The librarian also likes to read realistic fiction and historical fiction the most. Although she is not a huge fan of fantasy, she enjoyed Harry Potter because she thinks that the storyline could carry human interactions nicely.
She also recommends these books in particular: The Only Road, Out of Nowhere, and of course Refugee. The authors of the first two books listed are Alexandria Diaz and Maria Padian; they are going to be able to talk with us students and teachers about their books. Alexandria Diaz will be Skyping us on March 13th while Maria Padian is going to come for a visit on April 10th.
In past visits with authors, Mrs. Dinino really enjoyed having Maria Padian come and author of Suddenly, the Cider Didn’t Taste so Good and This Cider Still Tastes Funny, John Ford. In her opinion John Ford was very funny, so she loved hearing the students interact with him. If a student or a teacher wants to recommend an author to Skype or come for a visit, feel free to ask Mrs. Dinino. Students are also allowed to recommend books for the school to buy to add to the collection!
Mrs. Dinino’s favorite things about being a librarian is that she is surrounded by books all day, she gets to interact with various students of different middle school grades, every day is different, and she sometimes gets to match a kid up with a book. Her least favorite thing is when she just can’t seem to find the right book for a student. That is very frustrating for her.
Mrs. Dinino is an amazing librarian, and mostly all of the students here love having her in the building. She is a nice person who regularly is ready to smile at you and say hello if you stop by the library. She is also great at recommending books to everyone and helping people find exactly what they are looking for. If you’re ever passing the library, go in, check out a book, and say hello to our wonderful librarian.
