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While many of us were celebrating the Fourth of July this past weekend, there was a quiet few celebrating Canada Day (July 1). Amongst that quiet few was our own library director, Susan Preece, and I had the privilege of talking with her before she departed for the great white North (Any Bob and Doug McKenzie fans out there?).

Susan was born in Canada – Winnipeg, Manitoba to be specific. She moved to the United States at a young age, but once a Canadian, always a Canadian, eh. She still has family in Canada and she enjoyed some well deserved time away and vacationed with them on Amherst Island, on Lake Ontario for the Canada Day weekend.

 The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton was Susan’s first favorite book. She remembers reading it to her sister. Now she enjoys fiction over non-fiction, especially fantasy which she would choose over literary fiction. As much as she likes both of them, she would choose A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness over The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. She would rather read a Bronté than Jane Austen, and she is one of the few on our staff who you might find reading with an e-reader, but like the rest of the staff, Susan will tell you there is just not enough time to do all the reading she would like.

When I asked her what literary character she would be if she could, she did not hesitate and said, “Albus Dumbledore.” I also asked her what character would she like to meet. She thought a little before she said that she would like to meet Celia Bowen from The Night Circus. Celia intrigues Susan because she thought Celia was a victim of circumstance, but that Celia took life’s difficulties and challenges on with heart and soul.

Probably due to the Canadian blood that runs through her veins, Susan would rather watch a hockey game than a football game, and – hold on to your Patriots’ cap and jersey – if she does watch a football game, more than likely she’s cheering for the Giants! (She lived in New York for a number of years, so forgive her please!)

When it comes to who Susan would like to surround herself with at the dinner table, it’s all family and friends. Her guests would include grandparents (Cook and Bridges), Jane, who her children call Aunt Jane and is one of Susan’s best friends, Tullia, Mary Lou, a friend who died too young, and a brother-in-law who also was gone too soon. There is one person on her guest list that Susan doesn’t know, but would like to meet and that is Gordon Lightfoot, a fellow Canadian and musician.

And food! The entire staff loves food, but Susan is probably the biggest foodie of us all – especially when it comes to Italian food. She would choose lobster over steak, dessert instead of drinks, Chinese food before Mexican cuisine, and chocolate over vanilla.

I like Susan. I know you think I’m probably just saying that because she’s my boss, but I’m not. She’s funny, she’s caring, and she does a great job as Director of Topsham Public Library. She handles tough situations with calm and fortitude and grace. Canada is lucky to call her their own.

The following is the next installment in the series in which I interview Topsham Public Library staff members.

She didn’t set out to fall in love with orchids, but it happened nonetheless. It started with a gift. With that first orchid, Cyndi has since collected over twenty orchids and the majority of them are ones that people gave her in lieu of throwing them onto the compost pile. She tends them with care and nurses them back to health.

Cyndi is an odd mix. On the one hand she is like a good fairy: any spider or hornet or any other creature that might be found trapped inside the library must be captured and set free outside; when dealing with issues, and there can be quite a few issues at a public library, she tries to get to the root of the situation and to understand the thought processes behind the various standpoints; if she knows of a need and she can fill that need, she does.

But, on the other hand, she has a very active dark side: she makes her children move over on the couch so that her dogs can sit there; she would like to invite Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Angus King, Hilary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Mark Eves and Paul LePage to dinner then sit back and watch what happens; she hides creepy fake teeth around the office for innocent, unsuspecting staff members to find, and if she’s smiling at you – you might want to hide.

The majority of her formative years were spent in Topsham, so I asked Cyndi what it is like serving in the same community that she grew up in. She thought a moment and said, “Small. You are always the librarian no matter where you go.”

Lately, Cyndi has been on a non-fiction reading binge, but she enjoys fiction as well. Naturally she is up on the Young Adult reads as she is the Teen Librarian.

Her first favorite books made up the Mother West Wind Series by Thornton W. Burgess. When I asked her, if she could be a character in a book, who would she be, her answer was Amelia in the Amelia Peabody Series by Elizabeth Peters. One of Amelia’s characteristics that attracts Cyndi is a sense of toughness, and the other characteristic is Amelia’s sense of silliness. It’s that good fairy and dark side mix all over again.

Cyndi prefers to stay-in instead of going out, likes using an e-reader if travelling, and chooses the hotel over a tent every time. She would choose hiking over kayaking just so the dogs could go, too (although who is walking who is always up to interpretation). She prefers the ocean to the mountains, the book over the movie, and mustard instead of ketchup.

Do you recall my mentioning that Cyndi would invite politicians to dinner if she could? Well, Cyndi won’t be cooking that dinner. At least I hope not as her favorite meal is popcorn. When Cyndi craves things it’s usually salty foods which is fine, but Cyndi does NOT like chocolate! (I’m not sure how she functions!)

If she could not be a librarian, Cyndi would like to be a grief counselor. It’s that caring side again, and if she could wave her magic wand, she would bestow more empathy on the human race, but if she had to choose between you or her dogs – it would be the dogs every time.