Meet Ft. Madison's New Library Director, Emily Rohlfs! Below you'll find Emily R.'s answers to our little "New Director Quiz"

Name: Emily Dawn Rohlfs (yes, another Emily!)

Family: I have a husband that answers to “Kirk,” a black cat that doesn’t answer to “Loki,” and my family is all from Keokuk. My parents are Kathie and Don Gorham, siblings are Meg, Johanna, and Scott (all of Keokuk – and no, they should not have named me “Amy” like Little Women!). My in-laws are in Jackson, Mississippi, but the rest of Kirk’s family is in Missouri.

Schooling: I graduated from Keokuk High School in 1997, I was an English major at Culver-Stockton College and graduated in 2001, and just got my MLS from the University of Missouri, Columbia.

My favorite author is: That is too hard! I love Ray Bradbury, Chuck Palahniuk, John Irving, and I’ve recently discovered Jose Saramago.

A recent book I read: “The Cave” by Jose Saramago (but I prefer “Blindness”!)

My friendship with libraries began: Not when I was a child, that’s for sure. The school librarian would not let me check out “Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing” because I was in 3^rd grade! I didn’t understand the value of libraries until I worked as a Page for the Keokuk Public Library under Shirley Dick. There I realized how much information is available, and how good it felt to help people.

I’d really like to be good at: Piano and Yoga! It’s been too long since I’ve practiced both.

I’d give anything to meet: Eddie Veddar. I know – not very librarian-like.

My idea of paradise: A quiet day on a sleepy river – canoeing, of course.

Anything else? I keep my personal library in a Dewey-esque order! But after meeting with “the Emilys,” I think I should do a little weeding :)