Motlow's Head Librarian is Lifelong Book Lover
Title
Motlow's Head Librarian is Lifelong Book Lover
Subject
Motlow State Community College
Description
Newspaper Article on and Image of Motlow's Head Librarian, Eloise Broemell.
Creator
Stephanie Luttrell
Date
1979
Rights
No restrictions. Open for research.
Format
.jpeg
Language
English
Type
Newspaper Clipping
Transcription
Motlow’s Head Librarian Is Lifelong ‘ Book Lover’
A native of Shelbyville, she says she has always been a “book lover.” “There is so much joy in reading and I think it’s important to instill a love of reading in children,” she said. “While I was a librarian in the elementary schools during the 60s, I would give children ‘fun’ books they could whiz through and make them enjoy reading.”
Selects Books
As head of the department, she is in’ charge of book selection and also was responsible for the decoration and planning of the library at Motlow. “In 1969, there were so many community colleges going up around the state.” Mrs. Broemel said, “We were truly lucky to be able to be in the building as soon as we were. And it was such fun to plan the furnishings, carpeting, and places for the shelves and desks. I think everyone should enjoy his job as much as I do mine.” With methods of teaching changing as rapidly as new books come out, she found that new methods of storing information and presenting it would have to be made available to the students. “When I was in school they didn’t teach us how to use the microfilm or reel to reel cassettes because they didn’t have them,” she said. “Thus I had to learn to use them so I could help students find exactly what they need. It took a weekend at home with a 16-millimeter projector to learn to use that, and I learned the other equipment as it came in.” In 1972, the addition to the staff of Harlan Stocton as media director was a welcome move. Mrs. Broemel said, but she had to fight to keep the multi-media center at the library. “They wanted to separate the two: she said. “But the suggestion of a resource center was finally accepted.” Now, students can find all the sources for their term papers under the same roof. Motlow English teachers ask for three to five book sources, magazines, non-print, and microfilm – and it’s all in the same place, she said.
Other Pleasures
Reading is not the only joy in her life, though. The mother of two sons, David, 34, and Vance, 28, she said she and Warren, an administrative manager at ARO, are “very proud of their boys.” David, a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and the University of Tennessee College of Law, serves as counsel for the Tennessee Department of Insurance. In his “spare” time he climbs mountains and has traveled the peaks in Peru, Russia, and Switzerland. Vance recently finished his oral examinations for a doctorate in English literature at Harvard University. He received an undergraduate degree from Sewanee University and his love of mountains is confined to skiing down them, she said. Mrs. Broemel is a member of an “informal” book club. “We all read the same book and then we all talk at the same time about it,” she said.
BY STEPHANIE LUTTRELL
Mrs. Eloise Broemel didn’t meet her husband Warren while pouring over the card catalog in a library, but she did meet him while studying for a degree in library sciences at Columbia University in New York, where he was working on a liberal arts degree. More than 27 years ago, he brought her back to the South where she had grown up and attended Vanderbilt University. Now, as head librarian at Motlow State Community College, Mrs. Broemel is in charge of a staff of six and a beautiful 20,000-square-foot building which houses the learning resource center at Motlow. “My husband always marvels that we can get anything out of the sessions with everyone talking at once, but we usually enjoy it.” She also is involved in the Community Concert Association and says it is wonderful for a small town to be able to attract such talent. Besides reading books, she also uses them to help her in cooking, a favorite pastime, and enjoys knitting, especially afghans. In both movies and books, librarians are depicted as severe women who ask everyone to be quiet. This not-too-severe librarian only asks that people enjoy reading. And she says that shouldn’t be too hard.
A native of Shelbyville, she says she has always been a “book lover.” “There is so much joy in reading and I think it’s important to instill a love of reading in children,” she said. “While I was a librarian in the elementary schools during the 60s, I would give children ‘fun’ books they could whiz through and make them enjoy reading.”
Selects Books
As head of the department, she is in’ charge of book selection and also was responsible for the decoration and planning of the library at Motlow. “In 1969, there were so many community colleges going up around the state.” Mrs. Broemel said, “We were truly lucky to be able to be in the building as soon as we were. And it was such fun to plan the furnishings, carpeting, and places for the shelves and desks. I think everyone should enjoy his job as much as I do mine.” With methods of teaching changing as rapidly as new books come out, she found that new methods of storing information and presenting it would have to be made available to the students. “When I was in school they didn’t teach us how to use the microfilm or reel to reel cassettes because they didn’t have them,” she said. “Thus I had to learn to use them so I could help students find exactly what they need. It took a weekend at home with a 16-millimeter projector to learn to use that, and I learned the other equipment as it came in.” In 1972, the addition to the staff of Harlan Stocton as media director was a welcome move. Mrs. Broemel said, but she had to fight to keep the multi-media center at the library. “They wanted to separate the two: she said. “But the suggestion of a resource center was finally accepted.” Now, students can find all the sources for their term papers under the same roof. Motlow English teachers ask for three to five book sources, magazines, non-print, and microfilm – and it’s all in the same place, she said.
Other Pleasures
Reading is not the only joy in her life, though. The mother of two sons, David, 34, and Vance, 28, she said she and Warren, an administrative manager at ARO, are “very proud of their boys.” David, a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and the University of Tennessee College of Law, serves as counsel for the Tennessee Department of Insurance. In his “spare” time he climbs mountains and has traveled the peaks in Peru, Russia, and Switzerland. Vance recently finished his oral examinations for a doctorate in English literature at Harvard University. He received an undergraduate degree from Sewanee University and his love of mountains is confined to skiing down them, she said. Mrs. Broemel is a member of an “informal” book club. “We all read the same book and then we all talk at the same time about it,” she said.
BY STEPHANIE LUTTRELL
Mrs. Eloise Broemel didn’t meet her husband Warren while pouring over the card catalog in a library, but she did meet him while studying for a degree in library sciences at Columbia University in New York, where he was working on a liberal arts degree. More than 27 years ago, he brought her back to the South where she had grown up and attended Vanderbilt University. Now, as head librarian at Motlow State Community College, Mrs. Broemel is in charge of a staff of six and a beautiful 20,000-square-foot building which houses the learning resource center at Motlow. “My husband always marvels that we can get anything out of the sessions with everyone talking at once, but we usually enjoy it.” She also is involved in the Community Concert Association and says it is wonderful for a small town to be able to attract such talent. Besides reading books, she also uses them to help her in cooking, a favorite pastime, and enjoys knitting, especially afghans. In both movies and books, librarians are depicted as severe women who ask everyone to be quiet. This not-too-severe librarian only asks that people enjoy reading. And she says that shouldn’t be too hard.
Citation
Stephanie Luttrell, “Motlow's Head Librarian is Lifelong Book Lover,” Motlow State Community College Archives, accessed May 16, 2024, https://msccarchives.omeka.net/items/show/113.
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