Among Tenafly students, it is collectively agreed that the THS library is the best space in the building and a great source of pride for the school. The neatly arranged shelves of books, the couches and orange lamps, the array of national flags, and the impossibly tall ceiling fosters both a formal and comfortable environment for students. At the center of this place stands the Secretary of the Library Ms. Sharon Gaughan, who holds a significant role within and beyond the library.
Gaughan’s day begins by heaving open the library’s doors at 7:10 a.m., 20 minutes before her official start time. She is often greeted by a few students sitting at the desk and scrolling through their phones, but the library remains quiet except for the occasional sounds of typing and awkward sneezes from students suffering from the cold season of November.
It is when she turns on several computers in the library that the place gets filled with the underlying hum of electronics, the sounds building up like an Acappella signaling the start of school.
“I start up the whole place,” Gaughan said, gesturing around the space full of glowing computer screens. “I have to turn on the desk computers, the kiosk computers, and the copy room.”
Before starting her official duties, Gaughan makes sure to print out the New York Times crossword puzzles of the day for students and teachers to grab, a routine she has practiced for years. She carefully places the warm, freshly printed papers into the plastic slots to the right of the library’s front desk.
Gaughan then goes on to carry out one of her more serious tasks—sending out emails to students who did not return their Chromebooks or chargers that they had borrowed.
“That’s the first priority in the morning,” Gaughan said, releasing a sigh indicating the good number of unreturned devices that have built up over the past week. “I send out emails yelling at all the kids that didn’t return their chargers from the day before or [even] owe chargers or Chromebooks in the past, not just the day before. Lock students’ accounts for kids who have not returned their chargers or Chromebooks in over a week.”
Gaughan also makes sure to help those whose Chromebooks are getting repaired by technology borrow computers to use throughout the day, reminding students that she is not only there to reprimand but also to help.
After the computers are activated, papers are printed, and emails sent, students start to trail into and eventually surge into the library, gradually filling the grand space with a great echo of collective murmurs. As the time gets closer to the start of school, Gaughan watches the library get fully packed, the electronic hums now indistinguishable under the roars of jumbled conversation.
However, as the bell signals the start of class and the students all pile out in a matter of minutes, Gaughan proceeds to focus on tasks concerning the management of the room usage in the building. A process that “requires a lot of answering emails,” Gaughan reserves spaces for all teachers in advance, from classrooms, to the pit, or even the cafeteria.
“It takes a lot of looking into the future,” Gaughan said. “I make sure everything’s set days in advance—that everybody has everything they need and the custodians know what’s going to be happening to set things up, and [whether] technology is going to be needed.”
Although the book orders are usually done in the summer, Gaughan occasionally finds herself creating a new list of books to include in the library.
“I’m actually just getting ready to place another order to get some more books in,” Gaughan said, waving her hand toward her computer. “Over the summer, any new textbooks that come in have to get barcoded and prepped for [students] to check them out [during the school year].
However, Gaughan also makes sure to order new books that may be used in English classes or may pique students’ interest.
“There’s a lot of student requests,” Gaughan said. “You tell me an author that you’re interested in, and that’s the ones we bulk up on. Or, I focus on books that have been made into a Netflix series or a movie so that [students] would have heard about them.”
To gather a diverse, interesting addition of books to the library, Gaughan also looks through The New York Times Best Seller List and some teacher recommendations, focusing on gathering a diverse, interesting addition of books to the library each year.
Even after the bell rings at 3:11 p.m., signaling the end of the day, Gaughan stays for an additional 19 minutes before leaving at 3:30 p.m., also ushering out students who are still in the library.
Despite the responsible yet fun aspects of her job, Gaughan does have her pet peeves, with the largest of them being students being untruthful about the whereabouts of their Chromebooks and chargers.
“Some [students] blatantly lie to us, saying that they’ll return [the devices] at the end of the period and then they just don’t,” Gaughan said with a scornful smile. “When you [make an excuse] about technology, I know [if] your Chromebook isn’t [actually] getting repaired.”
Despite some troubles that happen, Gaughan holds great satisfaction in her job, which she has held for six years. Despite her occasional strictness with students, she describes her interactions with them as the greatest fruits of her time at THS.
“Talking with the kids, getting to know [them], and helping them is my favorite part of the job,” Gaughan said. “Sometimes it seems like we’re being mean, but we’re trying to teach life skills like remembering to charge your Chromebook and bring[ing] the supplies you need.”
