Starke County Public Library Welcomes New Children’s Librarian

Henry F. Schricker Library
Henry F. Schricker Library
The Henry F. Schricker Public Library in Knox welcomed a new face this month in the children’s department. Janine Tuttle-Gassere has been working at libraries for more than 15 years and recently moved back to the area, where she was welcomed as the new children’s librarian. Tuttle-Gassere said she’s been getting used to her new position but everyone has been very friendly and welcoming.

She said that right now she’s focused on the summer reading program.

“Mostly right now we’re concentrating on summer reading, so we have our summer reading program for birth to high school, to out of high school, then after that they can actually join the adult reading program,” she said. “We have different programs and some movies and we have preschool and toddler and elementary age programs.”

Some of the programs offered this summer include the elementary program, “Summertime with Dr. Seuss,” which Tuttle-Gassere said is based around the stories by Dr. Seuss. The program takes place every Tuesday at 1 p.m. until July 30. On Wednesdays at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. until July 31, the library offers a variety of preschool programs, and on Thursdays at 10 a.m. through Aug. 1 are the toddler programs.

Tuttle-Gassere said she previously worked as director of the library in Buchanan, Mich., as well as the library in Bristol and the Marian County Public Library, but it was time to come back home to be closer to family.

“I grew up in Walkerton, Indiana, and we had been living in Indianapolis and we were ready to move back up north, back home. And so this looked like an awesome opportunity to work in the children’s department and to be close to my family members and to work in a smaller community where you get a chance to see a lot of the same people and watch the kids grow up and move on to the next level,” she said.