Name:
Cindy Orr
Title:
Library Consultant
Background:
Born and raised in Kansas until a tornado dropped me in Cleveland 40 years ago, a week after I finished college. I’ve worked in four different public library systems in Northeast Ohio: Lakewood Public Library, Geauga County Public Library, Cleveland Public Library and Cuyahoga County Public Library. Now I work for myself as a library consultant. I also edit the monthly Collection Development columns for Library Journal, blog for ABC-CLIO at the Readers’ Advisor Online, teach Readers’ Advisory Service at Kent State University’s School of Library and Information Science and have a book coming soon. Most fun highlights of my career include being the manager of a library during design and construction of a new building, helping reorganize the management structure of a library, choosing the materials for a 28-branch system and getting rid of a gigantic backlog in a technical services department.
Fun fact about me:
I played the guitar and marched—back in my street-fightin’ days—and I can say the alphabet backwards very fast. I’m fascinated by archaeology, and I love graphs and maps.
My first library card was from:
A tiny little volunteer-run library in Northwestern Kansas that was open only a couple of hours a week.
My favorite books:
Wow, this is a tough question. I read almost anything and everything except horror, which scares me too much. And I don’t like roller-coaster rides, either, so that tells you something about me. Here are a few favorite authors: Margaret Atwood, Octavia E. Butler, Michael Chabon, Robert Heinlein, Louise Penny, Marge Piercy, Lisa See, Wilbur Smith, Thrity Umrigar. In nonfiction, Karen Armstrong, Malcolm Gladwell, Franco Moretti, Elaine Pagels. Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own” is probably the book that had the most impact on me. I read a lot of science fiction and mysteries, but also a lot of nonfiction.
