Mariya Farmagey: North Fork Community Library branch manager

What was it like going through such big moves as a child?

Moving from Ukraine to Syracuse was very exciting. We did cry at the airport, just seeing some relatives that couldn’t go with us and they’re staying back and we’re leaving and it’s like, ‘Oh, this is happening’ kind of moment. And then driving across the U.S. was pretty fun.

We got into this van with my five siblings, my grandma, my mom and my dad. And we drove across to Kent, Washington, and lived there for a year because my mom’s half-sister lived there. And my dad had a good friend that lived in Paradise back when it was just mostly woods with a road through it and we visited him a couple times. And then my family decided to move here. 

This feels like home now.

How long have you been the library branch manager?

I have been working here for almost 20 years now. I started on the day of my high school graduation as a page, shelving books, processing incoming items. And then moved to public services assistant when I graduated Western, which involves more customer service, answering questions and helping people find books. And just this last year I applied for the manager of the library position of this little North Fork Library, and here I am.

I think maybe when people hear library they think of books, primarily, but we have evolved over the years and we offer so much more. We’re working on getting English classes up here, computer classes for seniors and it’s a little bit similar to the resource center.

Can you speak to your experience of starting to read again in the language you probably grew up reading in?

Being bilingual or trilingual can be interesting because, depending on what’s available, depending on who you’re talking to, you might use those languages more or less. I love reading so, for me, it didn’t matter what the language was, but when I read out all the Russian (and) Ukrainian books that the library had, I read more in English. And probably for a decade I mostly read in English, so then I wasn’t sure if I could read a big novel in Russian again. And I tried and I could. So it was really fun to be able to do that and to be able to help source more things (for the) library.

What are some strategies for getting kids into reading?

I think of books a little bit like I think of music. So when you think of your favorite song, that might not be your mom’s favorite song, that might not be your little brother’s favorite song, because all of us like specific songs and maybe at different points in our life. 

So I think books are like that, too. You won’t like all of them and that’s OK. We’re just trying to find the ones that resonate with that specific young reader. And maybe a little boy that’s just starting out to read might be really interested in ones that are really funny, and maybe someone else is interested in princess books, and maybe somebody else is interested in true facts about real things and into science. We’re trying to find that little person’s cup of tea.