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New library manager Sarah Vantrease looks forward to utilizing social media as a way to connect more people to the library's services. (Ty Barbour/Staff Photo) <p class='dotPhoto'>All Chico E-R photos are available <a href='http://chicoer.mycapture.com/'>here</a>.</p>
CHICO — Around last Thanksgiving, Chico library welcomed its new manager, Sarah Vantrease, who comes to Chico from six years of library work at Los Angeles Public Library.

Her time spent at a larger library has made her especially interested in public engagement.

"This is really a busy library," Vantrease said Monday from her library office at 1108 Sherman Ave. "The number of visitors a month exceeds 30,000 people. We're checking out 50,000 things a month."

With society's addiction to social media and the popularity of downloadable books, Vantrease said it's important the library keep up with the newest gadgets in the briefcases and backpacks of its patrons.

"Tech Tuesdays and Thursdays" user group will start this month. Informal, drop-in sessions from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays are open to people who have tablets, e-readers and other electronic devices connect to the library's online sources. Library staff will be on hand to answer questions about what's available and how to connect.

"As in any user group, people will help teach each other, too," Vantrease said.

She also hopes to update what's on the library's shelves by bringing in more new books. "I noticed there seemed to be a lot of older books on the shelves and learned that most of the new books are checked out," she said. That goes for other media, too, such as new documentaries and new large print books.

Vantrease said new things to look for on display are the library's travel books and a shelf reserved for "test-prep" books on taking the General Educational Development test, the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery or the SAT.

Vantrease is a 2002 graduate of Harvard University with a degree in English and romance languages. She hadn't planned on becoming a librarian but credits her school job in Harvard's music library as her first library job.

"Someone asked me if I wanted to work in a library after college, and I said, well, maybe."

Vantrease grew up in Lake County and wanted to return to California for her graduate degree. In 2007, she received a master's in library and information science from UCLA while she worked at Los Angeles Public Library. Three days after graduation, she was promoted to librarian.

Turns out, a few other college jobs and time with campus ministry at Harvard helped prepare her for work in libraries. "It was the social work, the community organizing," she said.

She already has high praise for the nine permanent employees and the library's "steady group of extra help" of some active 100 volunteers. "They make it possible for the library to be open six days a week," she said.

Vantrease wants to see more elementary schools involved with the library, meeting with the staffs and connecting physically, "even if it means taking a box of books to a classroom, showing what the library has to offer"; and bringing the library to places where people can't always get to the library.

When Vantrease isn't at Chico library, she and her husband Tyree, an architect at Russell, Galloway Associates, spend time riding their bikes with plans to ride in the Wildflower Century. "We've been getting out every weekend for a bike ride," she said. Most days, she rides her bike to work, too.

As far as reading, not so much, she said. "That's the most frustrating. Those older days when librarians sat at a desk reading are gone. I'm looking forward to a vacation when I can check out a stack of books."

Laurie Kavenaugh can be reached at 896-7765, lifestyle@chicoer.com or @LaurieKavenaugh on Twitter.
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