As a high school student in Vienna, Virginia, Teresa Baker McElroy volunteered and then worked at her local library. Her father loved Dick Francis mysteries and Teresa would always check out the new ones for him. Now living in Susquehanna Township, the retired Armstrong World Industries project management professional has returned to library volunteer roots and still loves getting a sneak peek at the new books that come in. An East Shore Area Library volunteer since 2015, Teresa says she makes a mental note to place the books she sees in high demand on her own reading list.

Why do you volunteer?
I always enjoyed working at the library in high school and I like helping the staff.

Do you have a favorite book or books?
I like memoirs, historical fiction, a lot of nonfiction, and some regular fiction. I read Erik Larson’s book about the Lusitania, “Dead Wake,” because my mother’s father came to the U.S. on the Lusitania before it was torpedoed.

What are you reading right now?
I’m reading “Becoming,” by Michele Obama, but I’m taking a break because I saw the new Isabel Allende book, “A Long Petal of the Sea,” on the two-week loan shelf. I know what’s new by picking up BookPage here, which comes out monthly.

What surprises you as a library volunteer?
We’ve added puzzles, board games, and now video games. Plus, we have a large number of computers. The other thing that surprises me is the interlibrary loan. If the Dauphin County Library System doesn’t have materials, they can get it from libraries across the state.

What do you like best when you walk in the library and look around?
I like the new book displays and the seasonal displays. For New Year’s resolutions, we had a display on tidying up.