Happy Independence Day!

Librarian Profile:
Ms. Susan’s Silly Stunts
Inspire Summer Readers!
When it comes to summer reading, children’s
librarian Susan Scatena goes above and beyond
to motivate the kids at Whitestone Community
Library.
“Well, the whole thing started in 2006,”
says Susan. “I wanted to get the kids
to read and said I would do anything.
I would even sit in Jell-O. That got
the ball rolling. So, at the end of the
summer, I sat in Jell-O while some kids
sprayed my hair purple.”
pasta, and worn a banana suit (while
sitting in a tub full of bananas)!
She’s also been recognized by Astoria
Bank and award-winning author James
Patterson for her efforts.
So what does Ms. Susan have planned
for her tenth anniversary challenge?
“If we get 300 children registered,
and they read 4,000 books, at the
end of the summer, I’ll eat green eggs
and ham on the front steps of the
library. There are lots of recipes on the
Internet. And we’ll read the book, of
course!” ■
Each summer since then, Ms.
Susan has challenged the children
at Whitestone: if they register for
summer reading, and they read their
quota of books, she will perform an
outrageous stunt. And each year, her
summer readers have more than met
the challenge.
Ms. Susan has dressed like a chicken,
been sprayed with silly string, kissed
a frog, read to an alligator, kissed a
rabbit, hugged a 105-pound python,
gotten slimed, sat in a tub of cold
Queens Library Has the Recipe
for This Customer’s Success
After a career as an executive pastry chef with
20 years of culinary experience, Victoria Love
decided to create a blog of healthy recipes for
children. She came to Queens Library for help.
“Before I signed up for free courses
at Queens Library, I was completely
computer illiterate,” says Victoria.
“Since then, I’ve taken tons of business
administration, computer basics,
and social media classes at the Job
& Business Academy, and I learned
how to build my blog from scratch
and upload all my photographs and
recipes.”
Victoria’s blog is up and running at
AlexandersMom.com, and she’s already
received a lot of subscriptions from
people interested in her recipes.
“Now, I’m getting help from the Job &
Business Academy with marketing my
business,” says Love. “If it weren’t for
Queens Library, I would be completely
clueless, and unable to do any of this.”
Thank you, Victoria—and good luck
with your healthy business! ■
10 QUEENS LIBRARY MAGAZINE