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The pandemic was a wild time for us all, and it was particularly wild to be a children’s librarian as we had pivoted and were providing story time over Zoom. It had brought up a lot of uncomfortable, unsure thoughts about my career as a librarian. Thankfully, Romper gave me room to run and get my thoughts out to the world. I originally pitched it as a service piece about rebuilding villages during the pandemic, but Meaghan the editor correctly discerned that this piece would be better as a personal essay in my voice. I’m so glad she did. The Pitch: "Hi Meaghan, It may take a village to raise a child, but what do you do when the village is closed? New parents, especially those living in different cities and states from their extended families, rely heavily on story time programming at public libraries to create that village for them. As a children’s librarian myself for over a decade, I have seen first-hand how these villages are built from the ground up when new parents join a baby or toddler story time. But with libraries around the country remaining closed, where does that village go? And how do the village-makers (librarians) recreate and reconnect these spaces for those who need it most (and may not even realize it is still there?) I would love to write this 1,200-word reported piece, “How Libraries are (Still) the Glue to Your Parenting Village,” for Romper. In it, I would interview both librarians and families who are participating in virtual story times specifically geared to new parents, and how these library “villages” are being recreated in both virtual and non-virtual spaces. I would also provide suggestions on how parents can find their own new “virtual villages” in their communities. As mentioned, I am a children’s librarian who is currently working in this space. Because of my work, I have several sources, both within the library profession nationwide and in my own story time family community, who I could interview to gain insight on how both families and libraries are faring a year into this pandemic. I am a freelance writer and librarian in Nashville, TN; most recently, I wrote a reported piece for The Rumpus on a recent tax fight to fund a failing rural hospital in my hometown. I have also done service journalism pieces for SheKnows, specifically this piece on grieving during the pandemic. You can see more of my clips and publications on my website: https://www.lisabubert.com/clips Would this piece be of interest for Romper? Thank you in advance!
Lisa Bubert
After eight days, the editor had yet to respond so I nudged her. (“Just checking in on this one — any interest for Romper?”) Six days passed before she responded as follows: Hi Lisa! Thanks for following up. I miss our own library so much (I am in Portland, OR) and have often wondered how our librarians are doing / what it's like to do this job in a pandemic. I know here there have been proposed budget cuts on the ballot, on top of everything else. I'm going to talk to my colleagues about the best angle, you'll hear from me soon!
After seven days, I hadn’t heard from her so I nudged again. (“Just checking in… I’m still very interested in writing this for Romper! Let me know if you need more information from me.”) She responded the next day: Hi Lisa, Yes! Thanks for following up. I was thinking of you when all the Dr. Seuss controversy was coming up. I saw some librarians saying people were calling to put a bunch of holds on the books in question. Yikes. Anyway, we would love a story on what it's like to be a librarian in a pandemic! Including other librarians' experiences, too, would be amazing. I think including info / guidance on making the most of your local library branch in the midst of all this would be really cool (I could ask our art team to design a graphic?) but we would want to frame the piece overall as your pandemic experience. if that sounds doable to you, great. If not, I totally understand! I was imagining 1000-1200 words? We could pay $400. Let me know! Thank you,
As this was one of my first freelance pieces to pitch and publish — and it was going to be more of a personal essay — I was thrilled. After some more back and forth about timeline, contract, etc., the piece was drafted, went through one round of edits, and then published with Romper where it still lives now as a little time capsule of pandemic librarian-hood. The Timeline: Pitch sent: Feb 15, 2021
Nudge 1: Feb 23
Response received: March 1 = let me check with the team
Nudge 2: March 8
Response received: March 9 = acceptance
Draft turned in: March 30
Published: April 13, 2021
Pay: $400
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