It’s been a long time since the Perry School District has had a dedicated librarian, but that all changed at the start of the current year as they hired Mari Butler-Abry for the position.

Her background is in high school and middle school English, but she says she had loftier aspirations. To that end, she enrolled in the online master’s library studies program through the University of Northern Iowa, which she’ll finish next summer. With plans to become a school librarian in motion, she and her husband set about to find a good fit. As luck would have it, her husband was able to get work as a pilot at the Perry Municipal Airport, and the District was seeking a new librarian. She says they’ve both enjoyed their time in Perry so far and look forward to getting more involved with the community. When she started this summer, Butler-Abry says she hit the ground running and got to work on reorganizing the high school and middle school libraries and making the elementary locale more inviting.

She adds, while it’s been a challenge to cover three buildings, it’s one she’s embraced. “It’s a lot different role from being a classroom teacher, so it’s been a new challenge for me to learn, ‘How do I want to assist people in the way that is the most efficient for my time?’ I’ve had to learn to manage the work that I’m doing in maybe a quicker way or a more efficient way so that I can get to everybody. So really it’s a challenge, but I’m up for it because it makes every day exciting and I never really do the same job every day, which makes it really interesting. It’s just managing the time is kind of a challenge that all teachers do, and it’s just a little bit, I think, heightened challenge since I have to go to different buildings.”

To learn more about Butler-Abry, listen to today’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program on air and at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.