CADL’s Jessica Trotter named Public Librarian of the Year 

If you’ve read a book from the Capital Area District Library in the last several years, it’s likely that librarian Jessica Trotter was behind its inclusion in CADL’s expansive catalog. 

This past week, the Michigan Library Association, the Michigan Association for Media in Education and the Michigan Academic Library Association named Trotter the Public Librarian of the Year.  

“It was quite a surprise. I didn’t know I had been nominated. I had to reread the award letter,” she said. 

Trotter, a Lansing native, has been a librarian for 18 years and is a graduate of both Michigan State University and the University of Michigan. 

“I graduated with a history degree from MSU, but I knew I didn’t want to be a teacher,” she said.  

That was a good choice for the thousands of CADL patrons that read her selections for the library’s catalog. She’s the collection’s development specialist and master of curating adult fiction, audiobooks and e-books. 

“I help people connect with books,” she said. “I have to go out looking for the title of books that people will want to read.” 

To that end, she is on the selection committee for the Library of Michigan’s Notable Book Award, which names 20 books with a Michigan connection each year. She also serves on the national Readers Advisory Board, which makes recommendations monthly for books to be read. 

Trotter is also the co-host of a regular podcast, which emanates from the CADL system, called the Reader’s Roundtable Edition, which discusses new books and interviews authors. 

“Jessica is an amazing resource to CADL, the community it serves and both the statewide and national landscape of Readers Advisory and collection development services,” said Scott Duimstra, Director of Capital Area District Libraries. 

Trotter said the pandemic has created some interesting challenges for libraries including how to figure out how to simulate browsing for books since libraries are not open.  

“During the current pandemic, there was a swing to digital at one point but recently there has been a surge in physical checkouts of books. It’s a weird cycle,” Trotter said. 

In her career, which began when people were still checking out VHS tapes, she has seen a lot of changes due to innovations in technology. She has also observed how people are reading broader across genres. 

“I’ve enjoyed watching people reading more diversely and learning about other communities. As a person of color, and being a product of a mixed marriage, it’s inspiring,” she said. 

Trotter said libraries have to adjust to the needs of the community and look for book titles that represent those needs. For her, this means looking for new vendors or buying books on Amazon. 

CADL has an advantage over smaller systems since it can move material between branches and provide access to broader collections in just a day or two. 

Trotter said that even though her job requires her to read across a lot of genres, her personal go-to is still fantasy and science fiction. 

She recalls reading at an early age, at the behest of her father, the “Foundation” series, by Isaac Asimov, and the “Dune” series, by Frank Herbert. 

Before the pandemic limited in-person meetings, she chaired the MLA Fantastic Fiction group to encourage reading across that genre. 

Trotter has some advice that may surprise aspiring librarians: Be flexible. 

“I started before the e-book thing and look where we are now. You may be driving the delivery van or doing ordering, or conducting a podcast,” she said. 

Trotter’s real inspiration for her becoming a librarian may come from her childhood experiences of visiting her hometown library. 

“Saturday mornings we made trips downtown to the big library; we got lunch and came home with books,” she said.