Interview with Carol Reisner

Interview with Carol Reisner

Reisner, Carol ; Gashurov, Irene

Harpur College – Sixties alumni; Harpur College – Alumni in the library profession; Harpur College – Alumni from New York City; Harpur College – Alumni living in New York City

Carol worked as a branch librarian with the NYPL for 34 years. She grew up in the Bronx.

2018-03-19

In Copyright

Carol Reisner.mp3

2018-03-19

Oral Histories from 60's Binghamton Alumni

53:14 minutes

Alumni Interviews
Interview with: Carol K. Reisner
Interviewed by: Irene Gashurov
Transcriber: Oral History Lab
Date of interview: 19 March 2018
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Start of Interview)

CR: 00:04
Now?

IG: 00:04
Yes.

CR: 00:05
Okay. My name is Carol Kraut Reisner. We are sitting in in Manhattan, 105th Street and West End Avenue. I will soon be 72 in another couple of weeks, and I graduated from Harpur in 1966.

IG: 00:28
And just tell us what you do.

CR: 00:35
I am now retired, but I worked for about almost 34 years, 33 years as a librarian for the New York Public Library in the branches, among other things, I was most of the time a young adult librarian, until, as they say in the brownies, I flew up and I became an adult librarian and I-I enjoyed the variety and connection with the public and books and stuff. So, most of my career, I was very happy.

IG: 01:16
That is wonderful. Um, where did you grow up?

CR: 01:20
I grew up in the Bronx. I am happy to say that the Bronx is coming back, but I grew up at a time where I think back you played in the street, you did not- parents did not worry about that. I went to public schools. I have gone back to my neighborhood, and then happy to see my building is still standing and looking not looking bad, though there are other buildings in the neighborhood that were torn down. It was a mixed neighborhood of Catholics and Jews. I would say lower middle class Catholic and Jews. And now it is much more Latino than it that is the Bronx.

IG: 02:11
Right.

CR: 02:15
It was a long walk to school. I remember that I was at the edge of our- the boundary of the school district from elementary school, but I did go every day, came home for lunch every day, and near public transportation, not far from shopping, not too close to parks, but we so we played in the street and um, thought nothing of it.

IG: 02:41
It was a different time.

CR: 02:42
Absolutely a different time. Absolutely a different time.

IG: 02:45
Where you felt safer to be on the street.

CR: 02:48
Oh, absolutely I was- when I became a parent, we did not let our children play outside on the street by themselves.

IG: 02:56
Who were your parents? What did they do?

CR: 03:00
I had one first I want to say that I did not know it at the time, but knowing people and their experiences are wonderful parents who did their best. My father was born in Poland, and I see him as a typical immigrant. Thank God he was able to come with his family. In 1922 with his mother and his brothers and sisters, not knowing English, he was sponsored by an uncle who apparently brought the whole family over. To me my father represents the Americans, the American success story of someone who came, went to school, who married, had a family, had his own business, who never imagined and he was handicapped. He had had polio in-in Europe. So, he-he told me at the end of his life that he had a marvelous life, better than he had ever imagined it, he-he could have.

IG: 04:10
That is lovely.

CR: 04:11
My mother was born here, but her mother came from Europe. She was one of nine. My father was one of five.

CR: 04:20
So, what did your father end up doing?

CR: 04:21
My father had a collection agency, and that is he worked for others for years, and then he opened, had his own business. My mother, my mother did graduate from college. I think she was the only one in her family. She went to Hunter, but she graduated in 1933 in the middle of the Depression, and she could not get a job, and so she did various and sundries, and it was until much later, in fact, when I was in college, that she went back and picked up whatever ed courses she needed. And she worked several years as a sub, particularly for kindergarten, early grade. Why? So that she could help put my brother through law school.

IG: 04:22
Wow.

CR: 04:22
And I think my father had some college, but so that was that. I mean, I do not know what else to tell you about my parents.

IG: 04:22
Right. So-so, you know that-that is, that. I just need a little bit of background. So did they encourage you with your education [crosstalk]

CR: 04:22
There was never a question that we were going to college. That was not a question. When I went to library school, they told me what, they were not good. They were not going to pay for that. And I said, "What kind of parent are you? You are not going to pay for your-" and I- they did not, I mean, they said that we-we paid for undergraduate school, which was a stretch. My brother have not had an older brother who went to City College, so they did not pay for that, right? So, sending me away was a big deal.

IG: 05:55
So, you did not get a regent scholarship.

CR: 05:57
I did get a regent scholarship, but they still had to pay for room and board.

IG: 06:00
Yes.

CR: 06:00
Which I know in the, in the in dollars today, seems like chicken feed, but it was $1,000 a year was not nothing.

IG: 06:08
No, exactly.

CR: 06:10
And, and so they said, "No, you will have to get a loan." And I did get it- I got a loan that I think I had to pay something like $27 a month for, I do not know how I did pay it off.

IG: 06:24
Right. So, what were- what was your thinking about Harpur College? Why-why did you want to go there rather than to CUNY here, to Hunter College, or it was, or any other SUNY?

CR: 06:40
It was an opportunity for me to go away from home, and believe it or not, my-my mother encouraged me to do that. She wanted me to do that. And I certainly applied to city. And I think I applied to city, I applied to Brandeis, and I applied to Harpur, and it did not get into Brandeis, which is probably good idea. And there it was. We had visited Harpur. It was small, which I thought might be a good idea. That is where I was accepted, and that is where I went. I had come from a very big high school, which I cannot say that I loved. High school was not the best years of my life. And there we were. I was accepted. It was, you know, I was something that they could afford. And off I went.

IG: 07:28
What was the reputation of Harpur back then that you knew of?

CR: 07:41
It was excellent.

IG: 07:42
It was excellent.

CR: 07:43
[crosstalk] only Harpur College. It was the liberal arts college of this- of SUNY, of State University, had a very good reputation, good enough for me. And I think I tell I think that it lived up to its reputation. I thought it was an extraordinary school, looking, seeing where my kids went, rigorous. I think the kids who went there were really sharp. The teachers were not all, of course, not all, but I had more than my share of superior teachers.

CR: 08:27
I was very young. I would never, I-

IG: 08:29
Right.

IG: 08:29
How old were you?

CR: 08:32
I was, I was 16.

IG: 08:34
Yeah.

CR: 08:35
I never think that that is a good idea. On the other hand, because it was a smaller school. It was not and I had my first boyfriend, so I, you know, I, for me, it was fine. It was what I could handle. One of your questions, I remember things, did you think it was a party school? Oh, my God, what a question. It was the anti-party school. At least for me, it was the anti-party school. People study. I mean, worked all the time. I remember I had a boyfriend who perhaps was not as studious as I-I said, “Well, I am sorry, got to do my homework” and-and people did. I mean, I am sure there was, there were kids who hang out, hung out in the student center, and played bridge. And I was not that. I was not that.

IG: 09:30
What did you study?

CR: 09:31
I was, in the parlance of Harpur, I was a social science major with a specialization in history, which meant there was a lot of reading.

IG: 09:40
Why did you choose that area of studies?

CR: 09:43
I love history.

IG: 09:45
So, did you have an idea of what that would entail? When you-

CR: 09:49
Did I know the rigor of what it was, [crosstalk] I mean, I love, I still love history? I love history.

IG: 09:57
Right-right.

CR: 09:57
So, there was no, I had no-I did not hem and haw.

IG: 10:01
Right.

CR: 10:02
American history, I took because I figured it was a little bit less, you know, spread out. It was something that could be, could actually be studied in a-

IG: 10:16
Right.

CR: 10:18
Oh, no, I had these. I had wonderful history teachers.

IG: 10:21
Well, could you name-

CR: 10:23
Dr. Mason [Bernard Mason].

IG: 10:25
Right.

CR: 10:25
I had for several classes. I used to say that, and unfortunately, I know he has died, but his class, you got three in one, you got his lectures, you got the readings and you got your paper. I took many of his courses. He was actually my advisor. Dr. Rollins [Alfred Rollins], who was another wonderful teacher, I think, was 20th century. Dr. House [Albert House], [inaudible] for Civil War era. Those are the ones that I have not I did not look them up. I do not remember so much the others, but those are the names that just come immediately off the top of my head.

IG: 11:14
What-what are some of the illuminating things that you learned from your professors that you did not know before about America and your life?

CR: 11:26
You know, everybody takes American history in high school. So, taking American history in college was a revelation, because you got to understand in a way you did not in high school, that nothing was inevitable, as we feel, oh, the American Revolution, of course, we were going to win. Ah, not so fast. Things had to happen that there are more than one way of looking at things there the economic interpretation of American history, which was more in vogue in the (19)60s. One of the papers I had to write was answering a question, which was that, was it maybe about Hamilton, the views, was it Hamilton or in the world's history about Catherine, the Great. You-you had to read the historians from different eras and how their-their feelings about it, how they approached their conclusions were different with the times. And I did not know that from my high school. It was so much. It was it just opened your eyes. It just opened your eyes. In fact, I even remember the little books we have. Probably still have them, the different interpretations of a particular event that was exciting. And actually, as a result of that, I decided I would not teach American history in high school. I would be a teacher because I felt that I would not be able to do that in high school, and that it would be, it would not be right, it would sort of be a, sort of a lie. That is what made it very exciting. And he and right, even then now, compared to what now, it is included that women did not get a big shake and-and we did not hear about the so much about African American take on things. I mean, obviously history, the study of history, changes over time. But even then, it was just an eye opening, eye opening to me.

IG: 13:46
Did that inform the way that you looked at current events?

CR: 14:04
Oh, yeah, it still does.

IG: 14:06
Yeah.

CR: 14:06
It still does. And I and, yes, we do not repeat history. But if you do not know history, you do not know how we got here, and we did not just, you just, you know, it is not like a baby just is born with nothing we have, and other countries have history. And I think it is a- it is really too bad that our country as a whole does not have a sense of history. They think they just live now. They do not remember anything. They do not know why we got here. They-they and is it the fault of our education system, perhaps. That is right, they do not make connections. And yes, it does not do it does indeed inform how I look at things and what I believe

IG: 14:55
And what you believe.

CR: 14:56
Yes.

IG: 14:57
How-how? Well, I mean, you just stated your beliefs that there is-

CR: 15:04
Because there are different ways of looking at things, and if you get one point of view all the time, you are getting one point of view.

IG: 15:11
Yeah, of course. Um, you know, there are different truths, there are different perspectives on each issue, which-which pivotal events of the time. The (19)60s were very turbulent years. You know the-

CR: 15:32
I cannot say-

IG: 15:33
-fabric of our culture changed. What events do you remember from your um-

CR: 15:40
I cannot say that I participated in them. I do, but I do remember that there was a group of people who would not eat lunch and say that they wanted the money that was saved by not only going to a certain anti-war organization, it was their protest. I did not participate in that. That that was even I became much more aware of that in the in the (19)70s than I did in (19)60s. I was not a rebel. I- so I, and I am still really not a rebel, depending on who you who-who you speak to.

IG: 16:29
Right.

CR: 16:31
Certainly, that was going on, um, the-the-the freedom, the sexual revolution. I did not participate in that kind of thing. What I do remember was that when I started at Harpur, there, you had to be in your room at 10:30 there was room check by the RIS. By the time I graduated, I and when I got there, seniors had the privilege of having a card that they could stay at whatever time. I think it was a junior. You got two of them, maybe as a as a sophomore. I remember if you got one night that you could check, you know, did not have to be back by, just by the time, by the time I graduated, I think everybody could get a card to check out, you know, that kind of stuff.

IG: 17:26
Just remind us, what year did you graduate?

CR: 17:29
I graduated (19)66.

IG: 17:30
Okay.

CR: 17:31
(19)62 to (19)66. I remember being annoyed. We were all annoyed because it was the senior privilege, and now it was not such a privilege anymore, because everybody had it. So, I am thinking back and of the other it was mostly the war not not the cultural stuff of freedom for women or gays were not a part of it at that time, sexual revolution, I am sure there was. I did not smoke pot. I just- I was not-

IG: 18:09
You were very young also.

CR: 18:10
I was very young and pretty naive. You know, I was not one of the swinger city kids.

IG: 18:19
Right.

CR: 18:22
So, I do not remember really participating in any of those.

IG: 18:26
Did you participate in any other student groups?

CR: 18:31
It was not- no, I was not a big joiner. I remember I tried out for a play once, but I did not. I cannot remember if I did I to- I do not, I do not remember. No, I was not active. It was almost as if that is a I had my schoolwork. I had a boyfriend, which was a big deal for me. I had my-my I did not have that many friends, but my roommate and I were good friends. In fact, we still are, and had some others that and, and that was as much as I could handle to tell you the truth.

IG: 19:08
Yeah, probably.

CR: 19:09
It was for me. It was, [crosstalk] I look back, I thought about it, and I-

IG: 19:14
Because you were a young person, yeah.

CR: 19:14
I am sorry that I did not spend more time socializing, because when all of a sudden, done. You make friends there that sometimes you keep them for life. And what I have learned, you know, what have, do not always, I do not remember.

IG: 19:32
Okay, but you know, what were you mentioned the Vietnam War? What were your feelings about that and, and what did your friends discuss [crosstalk] right- about it?

CR: 19:47
So, I think when I started out, I thought, "Oh, well, you have to support your government."

IG: 19:52
Right.

CR: 19:53
Like, again, the old thing, government is right. They have a point. Otherwise, you would not be doing this. And then, as you start, you know, reading a little more, or talking to people, or they you get, you start questioning. I certainly was not in favor by the end, by the time I left, and I do remember after I graduated, I remember going down with other people to Washington from, you know, these marches that there was a big-

IG: 20:26
With people, other people, not from Harpur?

CR: 20:30
After, right after library school even.

IG: 20:33
Were you afraid that your boyfriend might get drafted? Was there that [crosstalk] or was that too early?

CR: 20:43
I do not remember conversations about that. I do not remember I do not remember that being in front and center. I had an older brother, and he was given a medical deferment. So, there must have been, we did not know that there must, but I think that was also later, because they were still in school and-and I think they were going on, so maybe there was more talk about it. And since I do not remember, I do not remember anybody tearing up there, you know, you start, start mixing up events, and I do not really know remember if there was anything like that on campus at the time, earning of the draft cards.

IG: 21:44
Do you remember Kennedy's assassination?

CR: 21:46
Oh-oh!

IG: 21:47
Where were you?

CR: 21:47
Oh, okay, I will tell you exactly where I was. I was in my history class; I think a Dr. Mason class. We were early, right? And one of the guys I had befriended, who had been in the army, he was older, so I think I was there at one class started at 10 after one, at about five after one, he pops he saw me, pops in, and he said, Kennedy's been shot. And when the- our professor walked in, and somebody said about, he said, "What?" And he dismissed us, and we went, I went to this to the Student Center, to the snack bar, and found people, and I think we were listening on the radio, because I do not remember exactly when he was pronounced dead. It was in the afternoon, I think, and it was like, "Oh my God." And I think we watched the funeral on television.

IG: 22:57
Right.

CR: 22:57
And also remember, were not we there in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

IG: 23:04
Right.

CR: 23:04
That was another time people were really scared about that. They were very scared. Why was it during, why do I remember sitting also in the cafeteria, and it was dark and talking about and worrying what the hell was going on, that this was not a joke. And, you know, nuclear weapons, and was there going to be a war? I cannot- is that interesting? Cannot remember the dates, but I remember, really, people were scared.

IG: 23:38
Right. Were you afraid? What-what-what were your fears about the Kennedy assassination, that something-

CR: 23:47
Oh, my God, that something like that-

IG: 23:49
-terrible would happen, that something like that, the assassination itself-

CR: 23:53
-could happen, and then we will, we will, you know what it all mean. And I think, I think it was just the shock of somebody killing you, President.

IG: 24:05
Right. That we were so vulnerable.

CR: 24:08
Whoever heard of that we did not know. I mean, later on, you know, you found out that, that it was before us when Harry Truman also was subject to assassination, we but we did not know that I was-

IG: 24:20
Right, but Lincoln-

CR: 24:22
And that, yeah, Lincoln, look at all you know, when the country was in turmoil. Oh, my God. I mean, that was before all the others that happened, that the commonplaceness of assassination and killing, this was, it was like, almost unbelievable.

IG: 24:44
So somehow, you know your

CR: 24:47
It is[crosstalk] your foundation, I mean [crosstalk]

IG: 24:49
Right, exactly.

CR: 24:50
It does. It does.

IG: 24:51
That is what I would think.

CR: 24:52
Yeah.

IG: 24:55
So, when you graduated, um, uh, what was, you know, give us an overview of your career trajectory. Did you go on to graduate school or-

CR: 25:08
Yes.

IG: 25:08
-right away? And where did you go? Where did you live?

CR: 25:11
I-I remember going to my guidance counselor in the, I think, the end of my first term of my senior year, when he had to start thinking, and I had decided when teach, that is what I had decided. So, what was I going to do? Actually, went because I had no clue. And I remember him, and I do not remember who he was. Was-was it Dr. Mason, I do not remember if it was, if he was my it could have been, he said, "Well," he said, whoever said, "Two possibilities, you could go into museum work and you can get a master's in museum work at the University of Maryland."

IG: 25:57
Yeah.

CR: 25:57
That [inaudible] museum work, whatever- for some reason-

IG: 26:01
Why did he suggest that? Why did he- because of history.

CR: 26:04
Because of history, I love history, um that that was a something that might be helpful, and all I could think of was cut and pasting, making signs do I cannot cut and paste for beans. And the other thing was to become an archivist and go to library school. Oh, well, that sounded okay, and that is what I did. Great. I applied to graduate school, and I went to have decisions get made. I was this. I applied. I did not want to go home either. I did not want to go to New York. I did not want I did not want to go Columbia. So, I applied to University of Michigan, and actually the University of Wisconsin, and I was accepted, but the guy was dating was going to the University of Wisconsin, and I thought it would be a better idea not to go to the same place. And I went to University of Michigan. It was a very different experience. Let us-

IG: 27:16
Because it was larger?

CR: 27:17
It was huge, a whole different experience. Let us just say that I always give money to Binghamton or SUNY, which maybe they do not think it is enough, but I always give money. I have a very and I never give money to Michigan, one because it is so big. I was only there for a year. I mean, that was the good thing about my masters, that it was, it was only 30 credits. I could do it in a year or a little more. I did not have to take, I could take two courses outside of library school, which I took, one in history and one in geography. You can see, and you know, is okay. It was okay. I always felt that the-the campus itself was an interesting the first semester, I lived off campus, what a disaster that is, and I finagled my way the second semester into living closer to the campus in an apartment. I always thought that there was a great divide between the undergraduates and the graduates, the-the undergraduates I stereotype as sweater sets and the graduate students like me. You know, schlubbies here. I remember going to them. This is- we went, we went to the football games. I thought this was a hoot coming from Harpur. The first thing you

IG: 28:45
Which had no sports to speak of.

CR: 28:47
Well, they did. They had a track and field then basketball, but they would not [crosstalk] and I graduated. No, it expanded because it was starting these graduate programs. But the first day on campus at the University of Michigan, you learned two things. You learned to hate Michigan State, and you learned this fight song. I thought, I thought this was crazy. [laughs]

IG: 29:14
Do you remember the fight song?

CR: 29:16
Of course, hail to Michigan.

IG: 29:22
Yeah.

CR: 29:23
it was, it was a hoot, [crosstalk] it was a hoot. And I was library schools is library school. That is a whole other world of experience.

IG: 29:34
Okay, so you graduated-

CR: 29:35
And I graduated from there, [crosstalk] and I came back to New York after toying with the idea of going to California, until I realized I did not know a soul there, and even more important, I do not drive, which I still do not drive, and I thought that-

IG: 29:52
Woman, a woman after my heart, I am learning.

CR: 29:57
Well anyway, it is good for you, because I am- one of the- that is probably the most, the most important thing I wish I had mastered. I am not going to do it now. I am and that is where I live in New York and but I came back home. I lived at home for a year because while my parents- let me, we are happy to have me home and-and when I said, "No, I am going to move out," they did not offer to help me. So, I had to stay home and earn, you know, I would save money so I could move out. And I did move out with a friend from high school. And in fact, we moved to West 95th Street. We sublet an apartment from-from gals I met on a trip who wanted a two-bedroom apartment, and they moved to 108th and they we sublet their apartment on 95th Street.

IG: 30:55
So, what was the Upper West Side back then?

CR: 30:59
Oh, it what- in some ways, I am sorry it is not more like that now. Now it is, this is, this is too upscale for me. It was much more of a mix. Now, on the other hand, we lived through the-the (19)70s and (19)80s of New York City, which was not great, but in terms of neighborhood, they were supermarkets, there were movie theaters, there were shops, there were a mix, much more of a mix of folk.

IG: 31:36
And by saying not, not so great. Well, there was a crime element.

CR: 31:41
Well, absolutely I was, I was held up in the elevator- my- in that building, I can remember it now, my-my fear and my and they took my watch, which was a present, graduation present from my parents. And I remember, I did not want to tell them, and I know I still have it, though it is I remember buying my own watch that was as similar as I could to it so they would not know. But I- yes, I have had other incidents too, yes, and the subways were undependable. And, you know, on the other hand, it was more affordable. I mean, I started my career as a librarian, $7,000 a year.

IG: 32:24
And where did you start?

CR: 32:26
I- my- the New York Public Library. [crosstalk] They took me when I first started, still living at home, and that was in the Bronx. They sent me to a branch in the Bronx, and I will tell you, I had never been to that part of the Bronx in my life.

IG: 32:44
What- describe it.

CR: 32:45
This was, now, I grew up near Yankee Stadium, and there were part six, six story apartment buildings, one next to another. Some were walk up, some were elevated. There were, you know, sidewalk apartment house. All of a sudden, I was sent to this area, the Bronx. They are private homes. People had gardens with roses. It was much more open. I was like, "Oh, my God, this is a completely different section of the Bronx." It took me an hour to get there. By the time I moved out a year later, I had trained. I had gone to another branch, which was closer actually to my parents’ home, but it was an easier subway trip. That is why you asked me where I started. I remembered those trips, and when I worked in the library, I worked, I only worked for the New York Public Library, but there was opportunity when I started to advance and change so you so I ultimately left the Bronx and started working in Manhattan, and even then, I worked in branches. I worked in the office. I worked at big branches. I ultimately, I ended up back. I got married, I became pregnant, I had a baby, and I took some time off, then when it was time for me to go back, I only went back part time. And an opening came up in my neighborhood branch, and at first, I was leery about taking it because, you know, it was a chance to get away from the neighborhood.

IG: 34:40
And what kind of position was that?

CR: 34:42
That was as young adult librarian.

CR: 34:44
And I ultimately took that position, and it was wonderful, because I could walk to work. I was in work at 10 minutes, if anything happened, I was home like my kids went to school. I could pick them up and take them to the doctor at my lunch hour, and I stayed at that branch for like 20 years. It became another library family, and then I ultimately left there and ended my career at another branch that opened up on near Columbia, also that I could work at. That was a less happy experience. And by the time I retired, I was very happy to go because the library had changed dramatically, and the things that were priorities when I started out were no longer priorities.

IG: 34:44
I see.

IG: 35:31
Such as.

CR: 35:32
Well, it was the introduction of the computer and less that changed the kinds of people who came in, what they expected of you. By that time, I was no longer a young adult librarian, but once the computer came in, the kids used to come in and ask, assume that I would do their homework for them. You know, I am doing a "I am doing a paper on- could you please print out the-the and" I- it is almost as if they felt that you are going to press my-my button and out of my mouth is going to come your-your paper. And that really was, did not sit well by me, you know, let and the people who started coming in just wanted to use a computer for different things. One, I was not all that adept at it. And two, I liked the book person, so there was less of that. And the emphasis, there were budget crunches. I worked. I worked at a really good reading branch. They cut the book budget to nothing. I just, I- what kind of public service was that, you know, [crosstalk]And I did not make I did not like it. I did not like it.

IG: 35:32
But you mentioned that you started out as a y [young adult] librarian, and you must have, you know, seen students through with their homework and their education. So, you had, you had a closer relationship with them.

CR: 36:32
Absolutely. I mean, I and I also stayed at branches. There was a lot of turnover, but by the time I got to Bloomingdale, I had different kinds of experiences. I worked in the office of young adult services. I had been I took other administrative things. When I came back, I came back there as part time. So, is it back at the beginning as a young adult librarian, so developed my collection? I knew the kids. I knew the parents. I was I was like and I got a reputation because I lived in the neighborhood too, that if a kid was having trouble, talk to me, and I would tell I would calm them. I would tell them not to do the work. Do not do your children's homework if they are going to fall flat on their face. Let them fall in flat on their face in junior high school, let them learn you got. And then there were people who would thank me, and they were people who told me to mind my own business, you know, or I would tell the parent, they come in with their kids, and they could, parents would start talking to me, and I would say, "Would you mind? I think I would like to talk to your child, if you would just wait over here," you know, because, and I did, I did get satisfaction, and I get satisfaction, well, it is now mostly adults, but I have had even kids, you know, I live in the neighborhood. Years later “Did you work at the library?"

IG: 36:48
Oh, that is nice.

CR: 36:48
I mean, that is you helped me. You, you know-

CR: 36:48
Right. What was the YA [young adult] age group that you serve from 13 to 17, or?

IG: 38:44
Yes, it was junior high school, high school.

IG: 38:49
I see.

CR: 38:49
That-that is about 12, 13 [crosstalk]

IG: 38:51
Right, reminds me.

CR: 38:53
Right.

IG: 38:53
I do briefly was a ya-

CR: 38:55
Oh yeah.

IG: 38:56
-branch for the Queen's public library.

CR: 38:58
Well, it was the same. [crosstalk] were you there?

IG: 39:03
In before returning to graduate school. I was, I mean, I had done my library degree, but I was there from, I think, 1984 to (19)86.

CR: 39:17
Because I worked with Ellen Libretto.

IG: 39:19
Oh, I remember her.

CR: 39:20
You remember her? [crosstalk] Queens.

IG: 39:22
Yes, I remember very well.

CR: 39:25
Yeah.

IG: 39:26
She was, you know, she was a dynamo. And-

CR: 39:30
Yes, very. Yes, very outgoing [crosstalk] personality.

IG: 39:34
I remember her. I remember right. So, you worked and you saw changing neighborhood. Did you still have a connection with you know your friends at Harpur, you mentioned-

CR: 39:50
I had one. I have maintained my relationship with one person.

IG: 39:58
Right.

CR: 39:58
Which was my roommate. We roomed together for four years, and while we were completely different on the completely different, she came from a very small town in Pennsylvania, big city girl, right.

IG: 40:09
Right.

CR: 40:14
Her father died. She never knew him before she was born. She was a very religious Baptist. I am not a religious Jew. She physically, she was different. She was tall, I was little. Yet we hit it off, and we stayed in touch. And why, I do not see her that much now, because of various and sundry reasons, we, my whole family, used to spend at least a week every summer with them.

IG: 40:51
How wonderful.

CR: 40:52
And they think of her as Auntie Anne and Uncle Bob. And yes, it was, it was and even now, we were still very different. She is more conservative and much more conservative than I and yet, underlying principles and what we value, it taught me that you cannot really judge like that. You got to talk to people.

IG: 41:20
And you can find connections even with people who are extremely who are very different.

CR: 41:25
Apparently-apparently are very different.

IG: 41:28
Yeah apparently.

CR: 41:29
I am very neat. She is a mess.

IG: 41:31
Yeah.

CR: 41:31
I mean, you could not think of more stories that we could tell. We laughed, but we laughed, and I remember, I do not think she would be upset about I remember rearranging the room when she had to do her paper, because I am very disciplined, and I took my notes on my note cards. You know, I am the that part of the world she is writing her paper at the last minute. She has her 20 books that she is consulting with her markers in it, and we had to rearrange the room so she could the bed would be better access for her to-to do her paper. I remember that, instead of I just remember that, and I used to tell her, see, there is a division. There is an invisible line in the middle. Do not want any of your stuff on my side. My desk was pristine. She told me in the beginning that the first, first semester, she was afraid of me.

CR: 42:34
Why=why?

CR: 42:35
Because I was very clear. And I also said, "Do not talk to me in the morning." I am very grouchy in the morning. Do not, do not be happy. Do not sing. And I am, I am-

IG: 42:48
Do not be happy. [laughs]

CR: 42:50
I am very forth. I talk like this. I always have.

IG: 42:53
Yeah.

CR: 42:54
I do not think she would ever come across anybody like me, because I growl, you know, until I had breakfast and it was okay.

IG: 43:04
Is that how other classmates would remember you? What would they say about idea?

CR: 43:08
I have no idea.

IG: 43:09
You have no idea, but it is, it is- it gives me a sense what my friend Ellen would say about me.

CR: 43:15
I have no idea. I have no- I did not. I do not really feel that is one of the regrets, as I said, that I spend more time-

IG: 43:26
With the others.

CR: 43:27
With making friends.

IG: 43:29
Yeah.

CR: 43:30
[inaudible] And I think back and I forgive myself, because you can only do what you can do.

IG: 43:35
Right.

CR: 43:36
And I do not think I am naturally brilliant, but I am hard working.

IG: 43:41
Right.

CR: 43:42
And I that is what I had to do. I had to do my you know; it was a lot of reading. How to do my reading, and I took notes, and I-I took time.

IG: 43:52
Is that advice that you would give to a college student now going to Binghamton to take more time to make friends?

CR: 44:00
I would add I would if they could manage it-

IG: 44:03
Right.

CR: 44:04
-to find more of a balance. I am not sorry. I mean, there you there are a lot of people who say we should not go back to college because I would have worked harder. And I do not say that. I feel that I did that and I enjoyed it, most of it, and I could not, I could not have done it any other way. I mean it. I could not have done it any other way.

IG: 44:26
Right.

CR: 44:26
So, but yes, and I also would say I did take a lot of music classes. I love that. Dr. Friedheim [Philip Friedheim], that yes, was a wonderful music teacher. Oh, my God, I took anything he taught, even though 20th century music, I took because he taught it. I took an opera class. I do not really like 20th century music or but he was one of the phenomenal teachers. I would say, take those classes, take art, take music, take things. That would, do not shy from them, because those kinds of things are with you for the rest of your life.

IG: 45:07
Right.

CR: 45:08
You know-

IG: 45:10
So go outside of your comfort zone, or it would be explorative.

CR: 45:13
That is that is personality. That is your personality. You cannot you have to be true to who you are at the time, be more involved. I am still not a big joiner.

IG: 45:24
Right-right.

CR: 45:26
I am not that that is-

IG: 45:29
So is this, is this, is this the message that you would like to impart to, um-

CR: 45:35
I would tell people that I do not know if they I think they have pass, fail now, they think they instituted pass, fail I am not sure.

IG: 45:41
Yes, they have. Yes.

CR: 45:43
And I would say, use it.

IG: 45:45
Right.

CR: 45:46
Take a chance. Take a chance on something that you think you would like. That I would do. I would say, yes, friends are important. See what you could see if you can expand that way, because that is now it is a university. Now it is very different. You went Harpur, there were three groups at Harvard. There was the Upstate group, there was Long Island. And there was the city, yeah, and that is the bulk of the- there was the graduate school is just coming in to its own, you know, beginning, but that so those were the three different groups of people that were there. And while I was certainly not a slick city, you know, I was not, in fact, somebody once said to me, "Oh, you are more like the Upstate people," which I did not take as a compliment. My roommate was from Pennsylvania. She was one of the very few outside state people. I had my own stereotypes of these different groups and where I would fit, and I was not an upstate kid, and I was not a Long Island kid, and I did not fit in with the slicker city kids, so I did what I could do. Now, it is a different world there. It is much broader. There are more, I think there are people from-

CR: 47:19
International-international students.

CR: 47:20
International students. There were very few international students. So, it is a broader world to pick from. You can eat more easily, I think

IG: 47:31
So, you feel that you cannot really give advice to the current student population because they are so different. They are-

CR: 47:38
Yeah, I do not think they need my advice.

IG: 47:39
You do not. They do not.

CR: 47:40
I do not think they need my advice, to be quite honest. And secondly, what I see from my own children was they are more absent again, take advice from their peers than they are from [crosstalk] So find out. You know this advice you are not going to listen. Maybe the pass, fail thing, because that is academic, and maybe it is just fine after yourself. I have learned about that.

IG: 48:11
What are, what are some of the most important life lessons that you have learned, do you think that could be benefit, beneficial to somebody listening to this interview?

CR: 48:22
In life, not necessarily at school?

IG: 48:25
Not necessarily at school.

CR: 48:27
You change.

IG: 48:28
Right.

CR: 48:28
You are not who you are when you are 20. You do grow. You do gain wisdom. So, you learn, therefore not to be judged. So judgmental.

IG: 48:41
Right.

CR: 48:43
I am, you-you through, sometimes, through adversity, you realize what is really important, and maybe not the small stuff.

IG: 48:57
Right.

CR: 48:57
But that also you cannot people you cannot you have to experience it yourself. The only thing that is taken me a long time to learn, but I am much better, is that you cannot really give advice unless somebody truly wants it. And I know that from with my own children, because I certainly was advice giver until I realized that, you know, I am here for you-

IG: 49:36
Right.

CR: 49:36
-but I have great faith in you. What do I tell people? My two mantras, at least in terms of their children, I said, you have to live long enough, and you have to have faith, and that is for children. For friends, you cannot fix them. You can, you can listen.

IG: 49:54
Right.

CR: 49:54
So, listen, wait, if they ask you, because I am actually somebody, when I am telling somebody a problem, I want their advice.

IG: 50:06
Right.

CR: 50:07
What I am asking for is a different way of looking at something that I that maybe I had not thought of, but I must [crosstalk]but I must be unusual, because most people do not want that. They want to vent. And that is, that is a role too. I think that is really-

IG: 50:27
A role of a very good friend or a therapist.

CR: 50:31
Well, that right, somebody said to me, make a good therapist, and that might be maybe, except I do not hear everybody's problems, right, I mean, I have other I have certainly have things for myself that it could work on, but that is what I would tell people do not be I am not a risk taker. I-I admire people who do take more risks. I um, when my son came to me and asked me, he wanted to go to study abroad, and asked me what my opinion and I quite honestly said to him, I said, I am not the right person to ask. I am not a risk taker. I took four risks in my life. I got married, I had two children, and we bought this apartment when we did not see it, they all turned out well, not always right away, but they all turned out well. So, I said, "That is what I said. I am not we are not risk takers here, but if you are going to do it, this is a good time to do it." You have no responsibilities. And why not, and why not,

IG: 51:42
And why not. That is, that is-

CR: 51:44
He did.

IG: 51:45
Opening the door for him.

CR: 51:46
Absolutely, I did not say no, and we, and obviously we would support him and help him if we could, but, but that is what I would tell people.

IG: 51:55
Right.

CR: 51:57
If they could hear it, that you have your certain personality you cannot, uh-

IG: 52:02
I understand. Do you have any concluding remarks?

CR: 52:09
I thought that it was wonderful for me to have had the opportunity to go to Harpur.

IG: 52:16
Why

CR: 52:17
I thought I got a great education. I just did, even though, by the end, I thought it was too small for me. You know, it is one thing to go to a small to 2000 people, you know, different classes, because, and I advise my children, in fact, to go to schools are a little bigger, not big, but bigger. But I just thought for this little girl from the Bronx who made her way to Harpur had these wonderful teachers. Loved most of her classes, I just have a very warm feeling-

IG: 53:01
I understand.

CR: 53:01
-towards it and grateful that I could go.

IG: 53:05
Well, thank you very much.

CR: 53:09
This was fun.

IG: 53:09
This was a wonderful, wonderful conclusion.

(End of Interview)

2018-03-19

Irene Gashurov

1966

Carol Reisner

Carol worked as a branch librarian with the NYPL for 34 years. She grew up in the Bronx.

Audio

Harpur College – Sixties alumni; Harpur College – Alumni in the library profession; Harpur College – Alumni from New York City; Harpur College – Alumni living in New York City

Many items in our digital collections are copyrighted. If you want to reuse any material in our collection you must seek permission, or decide if your purpose can qualify as fair use under the U.S. Copyright Law Section 107. If you think copyright or privacy has been violated, the University Libraries will investigate the issue. Please see our take down policy. If using any materials in this online digital collection for educational or research purposes, please cite accordingly.

Harpur College – Sixties alumni; Harpur College – Alumni in the library profession; Harpur College – Alumni from New York City; Harpur College – Alumni living in New York City