Many of our children have noticed the action figure doll on my office window sill. Her name is Nancy Pearl and she is a real person. She is awesome! I was extremely fortunate to meet Mrs. Pearl during the Summer of 2007, at the American Library Association conference in Washington, D.C. This action figure doll was a purchased at the Library of Congress by Mr. Potwin as a memento of our Washington, D.C. trip.
Nancy Pearl’s likeness made history as the best selling Library action figure (with automatic shhhhh-ing capabilities) of all time.
Action Figure Stats:
Name:Nancy Pearl
Yes, she’s a real person!
Weapon of Choice:The Dewey Decimal System
Occupation: Librarian
Mission: To promote and celebrate the written word.
Accomplishments: Director of Library Programming and the Washington Center for the Book at the Seattle Public Library. Nancy is best known for the, If All Seattle Read The Same Bookproject. This idea of one city reading the same book at the same time has been imitated in cities around the world. She is a book reviewer for the Seattle Times, Booklist, Library Journal, KUOW-FM Seattle, and KWGS-FM Tulsa.
Awards: 2003 Washington Humanities Award, 2001 Allie Beth Martin Award from the American Library Association, 1998 Library Journal’s Fiction Reviewer
of the Year.
Education: Masters Degree in Library Sciences from the University of Michigan.
Interesting Fact: Decided to become a librarian at the age of 10.
Books Written: Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason; Now Read This: A Guide to Mainstream Fiction, 1978-1998; and Now Read This II: A Guide to Mainstream Fiction, 1990-2001.
Favorite Books: Fiction: The Brothers K, The Prince of Tides, Searching for Caleb, The Eyre Affair, A Gay and Melancholy Sound. Non-Fiction:The Best and the Brightest, Love Thy Neighbor: A Story of War, Train Go Sorry: Inside a Deaf World, The Liars Club, Into Thin Air.
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