NEWPORT — Jennifer Ballard comes to the Jackson County/W.A. Billingsley Memorial Library with experience in collection development, children’s programming and, if needed, animal wrangling.
Ballard started April 15 as the new director of the public library in Newport. It’s a dream job for a longtime lover of books.
“Oh, my goodness; I’ve always loved to read,” she said.
Ballard grew up in Pleasant Grove, and after graduating from Mountain View High School, she went to Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. She majored in English and planned to be a teacher.
She was close to earning a Bachelor of Science degree in English when she changed directions.
“I was going to be a high school English teacher. I thought, ‘I don’t want to teach high school; I want to be a librarian.’”
Ballard went to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa to earn a master’s degree in library information studies.
Her first library job was as children’s director for the Rogers Public Library.
“It was great,” she said. “I worked there two years.”
Then her sister — whose last name is Book, but she isn’t a librarian — called Ballard and told her about an opening in the library at Arkansas State University-Newport.
In 2005, Ballard took the job as librarian for the two-year campus.
“At Newport, I was responsible for everything a librarian does. I did collection development, some programming. We helped students with reference and research. This last year, I was over the testing area and tutoring.”
Despite the digital trend, the library is valuable for college students, she said.
“[Students] still need to know how to find reliable research,” Ballard said. “They need to be able to find good reliable sources.”
When she left ASU-Newport, her title was director of library and academic services.
The programming was unique and varied.
“We did probably some less-traditional programming. One time, we had barnyard animals in the library; that was really nontraditional for an academic library. We had chickens, ducks, cats, a goose. I thought it would be fun; it was a program I thought people would come to. A friend of mine has an animal menagerie … it was hysterical,” Ballard said.
Ballard said she didn’t try to combine a library program with the animals.
“I couldn’t have competed with the animals during that program,” she said, laughing.
“At the college, we also did some really neat community activities, AARP classes and glass art, which was fabulous. We had an artist come in from Batesville, and she helped us make shattered-glass art creations. She brought broken glass in tubs by color. … You’d lay out a whole piece of artwork — a heart, a cross, an Easter egg, a Christmas tree. If you realized you didn’t like it, you wiped it off and started all over again.”
Despite how much Ballard enjoyed the university campus, the public-library position intrigued her.
“This job just happened. Tonya Ryals (the director) contacted me, and I thought this might be a good opportunity for me and my family,” Ballard said.
She said Ryals took another job.
“I come to programs here; [Ryals has come to things out there [at ASU-Newport]. It’s a small town. We just knew each other,” Ballard said
Ballard and her husband, Mark, have a 9-year-old daughter, Annsleigh.
“She likes to read. She likes to do everything, quite honestly. She’s very social,” Ballard said.
“I just thought [a public-library position] would be a good opportunity. I’ll get to see more of our community and maybe work with kids more,” she said.
“Newport has been a fabulous community for me. People are good and kind. They have taken care of me and my family in a couple of instances. This community has loved on us,” she said. “Newport shows up and shows out.”
Ballard said she’s been frequenting the W.A. Billingsley Memorial Library since she moved to Newport.
“It’s been my public library since I moved to Newport,” she said. “One of the first things I did was get a library card.”
Ballard said she can’t narrow her favorite books down to one.
“I’m so far behind on my reading; it’s shameful. I like mysteries, and I like a variety,” she said. “I’m reading I Owe You One. It’s light; it’s not going to be very dramatic.”
She said the timing was right to make the move from the college campus to the Jackson County library.
Hanna Purdy Dickinson, chairwoman of the Jackson County (W.A. Billingsley Memorial) Library Board, said Ballard “is active in the community and has a love for books and reading. The library is proud to have her lead our many programs and foster a love for learning.”
Ballard said she hasn’t had time to make any changes or think much about her goals since starting her new job April 15.
“I am so busy learning what I need to do every day; I’m too new to worry about changes. My goal is to foster a love for reading in our community and let our users, our patrons, know they’re welcome here and let them know there’s something for everybody here at this library.
“It’s a small library, I would say. … We receive new titles regularly, popular titles,” she said. “If we don’t have something, we’ll do our best to get it for you. There’s something for everybody.”
Ballard said the library has regular patrons who use the computer.
“My main goal in my job as librarian is to help people. … That’s just what librarians do. We serve the public; we help people,” she said.
“In addition to doing programming in the library, our goal is to always make people feel welcome and that they matter,” Ballard said. “At a two-year college, there were a lot of students who felt overwhelmed and intimidated. We felt like our job was to make them feel, ‘You’re good; you’re OK.’ We calmed a lot of fears and nerves. That will continue here as well.”
Ballard said her focus now is on planning the library’s Summer Reading Program, which will be take place on Wednesdays, June 5 through July 31. A story time and crafts for children ages 3 to 8 will begin at 10 a.m.
A program for teens and tweens will start at 2 p.m. each Wednesday. In Tuckerman, the Summer Reading Program will be at 10 a.m. Tuesdays, June 4 through July 16 (skipping July 2).
“We hope to build a good tween and teen program and just have a solid base of kids whom we expect every day. I think kids like to hold books in their hands, too. Having a book on an electronic device can be very convenient, but I think kids will remember more if it’s on paper.”
But will there be barnyard animals?
“That’s entirely possible,” she said, laughing.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.