Board Member Spotlight: Sue Safarik

Reference Librarian & Arts Advocate

A lifelong learner and creative dabbler, Sue is eager to help you find what you are seeking or better yet, something you never imagined.

Though kindly reserved, when pressed Sue describes her private life as, “fairly quiet.” Which is quite fitting given her chosen vocation as a Reference Librarian. While studious and subdued in some aspects, this work also complements Sue’s introversion by drawing her out into energizing community interaction, public service and continual learning.

 Aside from a brief stretch of employment at Joann’s Fabrics after graduating from UNC, Sue has spent nearly her entire career working at libraries in Downtown Greeley. A librarian and frequent customer at Joann’s encouraged Sue to apply for an open Library Page position shelving books and so she decided to try it out. Once hired, Sue worked her way up through several positions learning more about library systems, creating intriguing book displays, assisting patrons and eventually finding her niche in research and community programming. Although Sue doesn’t hold a traditional library science degree, over 30 years of on-the-job experience have earned her the title of Librarian.

This Polaroid was taken in 1986, of Sue putting up a display about dinosaurs. In the upper right corner is a life-sized T-Rex skull she made out of papier-mâché. Sue found these displays challenging and fun—they were a great way to exercise her artistic abilities.

Sue even remembers them being used for a couple of photo ops. A display on wedding traditions that included a small arbor and a multi-tiered (cardboard) wedding cake was used by a couple who had just been married by the Justice of the Peace in the little courtyard; also, one of her more elaborate Christmas displays became the background for a family’s Christmas card photo.

Sue’s formal training is actually in Fine Arts–particularly watercolor and fiber. For a long time she didn’t really have an artistic practice beyond her education. However after her father passed away, she started taking classes with a group of friends at Aims Community College taught by local painter Daniel Augenstein. The class created accountability, exposed her to new methods/mediums and forged an unexpected community that has met to make art together for over 9 years. The experience has shown Sue just how enriching the arts can be as an avenue of expression and a means of drawing people out of isolation into community. 

As she continued to serve the public through the library, Sue unfortunately realized that many adults don’t necessarily have opportunities to be creative–unlike children, adults often aren’t given the space to express themselves imaginatively. Seeking to bridge the gap, Sue helps plan and host creative workshops for adults to learn new skills and experiment with new mediums that they may not otherwise have the resources or access to explore. She recalls teaching one woman how to hem her curtains or another gentleman how to mend his pants. “The new skills help people feel empowered and they open up new possibility.”

So naturally throughout the planning for the new LINC Library project, Sue has been a huge proponent for the arts! This newest iteration of the downtown library will boast innovation bays equipped for workshops and classes of all kinds and it will offer a wide array of equipment that would otherwise be costly or inaccessible to the community. It will be a dynamic, energetic place that serves a diverse population in a variety of important and unique ways—certainly not the silent stereotypical library of yesteryear! Like many, Sue is so excited to share this ambitious project with the community–it’s part of what led her to become a Greeley Creative District Board member. Sue knows the Library will need to create strong ties with the creatives living and working here in Greeley in order to help spread the word and build out the programming needed to fully leverage these new resources. 

A proud spokesperson and ambassador for the LINC Library, Sue would love to tell you more about it herself if you have a chance to pop into the existing Lincoln Park Library branch!

by: Dana Buckingham