Hi! I’m Liam, I’ve been working at BCPL as a Circulation Assistant at the Hebron Branch since April of last year, so I’ve been here for a while! I love libraries and am planning to enter a Masters program at the University of Kentucky to get my Masters degree in Library Sciences next year so working at a library was a great first step for me! My three favorite parts of working in the library have to be: my coworkers and boss, helping patrons, and finding books and other media I’ve never heard about.
I’ve made so many new connections since I started working for BCPL almost a year and a half ago and my boss is the best! (Shoutouts to Angie and the rest of the Hebron crew!) This job has also been a great fit for me because of my personality and being a people person. I love the look on patrons’ faces when I help them find something they’re really looking forward to digging into, whether that be a good book, a thrilling movie, a gripping video game, or something else entirely! Lastly, I love our collection at not only Hebron but all of BCPL. I’ve found so many books and other types of media I’ve never heard about or been recommended but never had the time to go out of my way to search for. For example, ILL (or InterLibrary Loan) is so amazing, I’ve found so much out of print material that’s been on my radar for years. Most of it comes from our own collection though, I’ve found several movies, TV series, books, and games I thought I’d never get a chance to experience thanks to BCPL.
As for my personal life, I’m a jack-of-all-trades but I doubt I have enough space to talk about everything here. I’m a writer by heart, a reader by second nature, a gamer, and a huge fan of anything sci-fi and fantasy. (I’m also an artist but we won’t talk about that until I get better!) My taste in books was heavily inspired by Will Hill and Michael Grant. Supernatural and sci-fi books are my bread and butter as far as reading but when it comes to writing… I LOVE fantasy. I’ve created countless kingdoms, continents, heroes, villains, and epic sagas in my free time and for school projects. In fact, shout out to my younger sister for being my editor and helping me cowrite the series of short stories we’ve dubbed A Magic Driven World. Sadly, I’ve never published anything due to wanting to perfect my craft beforehand, however, I plan to get some of my works published online in the near future, so be on the lookout! I also dabble in sci-fi and realistic fiction but I rarely write in those two genres.
Gaming has been a part of my blood since I was five years-old. I still remember receiving my red Nintendo DS Lite with copies of New Super Mario Bros. and Crash of the Titans on Christmas morning in 2007. Ever since then I’ve been a staunch Nintendo supporter and Sony fan (I also occasionally play on PC but I’m more of a console guy). Right now I’m actually playing through three games at the same time. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night to scratch that supernatural itch, Octopath Traveler II because it’s just amazing, and Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance because deep down, video games can teach us about the real world. Even if it’s set in a fictional version of Tokyo. I’m a huge fan of platformers and role playing games (or RPGs for short) and my three favorite series of all time are Fire Emblem for the character development and gameplay, Mass Effect for the immersive and interactive storytelling, and Xenoblade Chronicles for a mixture of story, characters, and gameplay (All three also just happen to have great music but that’s just a bonus).
Going back to books, if I had to pick a favorite series it’s either a toss up between Department 19 by Will Hill or GONE by Michael Grant. Both are supernatural but the GONE series is like what if Stephen King’s writing, Lord of the Flies, Marvel, and several sci-fi films had a baby. I’ve also recently learned that I enjoy gritty murder mysteries and detective stories thanks to websites hosting short stories online.
Outside of video games, writing, and reading I love to listen to J-Pop (Japanese Pop), classic rock, classic pop, and pretty much anything my parents listened to from the 70s to the 90s. My favorite song right now is “Lay All Your Love On Me” by Abba! I also love to travel, in January I went to Florida with my mom and younger sister and it was amazing! It was the first time I had been to Disney World and Florida in general since 2015. It was also my first time visiting Animal Kingdom, which if you know Animal Kingdom and you know my second favorite movie of all time (James Cameron’s Avatar) then it’s safe to assume I spent all day in the Pandora themed section of the park, because I did. Later, in March, I went to North Carolina with some friends from college and their friends from Nepal, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Japan. It was the greatest week of my life so far. Even if we all got really sick on the last day it was a trip I’ll never forget.
I guess I should also mention I love traveling so much because I’ve lived all my life in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area. I went to the same elementary, middle, and high schools as my mom and even went to the same college as her as well! (GO NORSE!) Seeing other places around the country is a magical experience for me. I’ve been to Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Georgia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, and Minnesota. My next stops are North Carolina (next year with my friends again), Florida (once Universal Studios opens their Super Nintendo World part of the park), New York (solely for the Nintendo Store), and hopefully another country (preferably Japan or Italy).
Anyways, that’s enough rambling from me. If you want to hear more, or more importantly, want to check out a book, come on down to the Hebron Branch and I’ll be happy to assist you!
