{"id":1228,"date":"2023-04-24T08:54:49","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T12:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/?p=1228"},"modified":"2023-06-28T11:43:38","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T15:43:38","slug":"get-to-know-commissioner-karen-traub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/2023\/04\/24\/get-to-know-commissioner-karen-traub\/","title":{"rendered":"Get to Know Commissioner Karen Traub"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What is your favorite thing about being a commissioner?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love visiting libraries throughout the Commonwealth and hearing the many ways they serve their communities with materials, programs and events. I’m proud to live in Massachusetts, a longtime leader in the nation when it comes to libraries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Commissioner Traub & Blades at East Forest Park in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you love about your local library?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MN Spear library in Shutesbury is one of three jewel-box libraries designed by 19th century architect Roswell Putnam. In spite of the fact that it is a tiny, one room cottage with no running water, it magically offers access to millions of books and digital content including eBooks, audiobooks and movies that I can enjoy from home or on the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you like to do when you\u2019re not being a commissioner?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I enjoy my work as an acupressurist and my hobbies of hiking the Quabbin woods, historical research, and reenactment, and performing with the Crescent Dancers Middle Eastern Belly Dance troupe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What books have inspired you? *or* What book changed your life?  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was a tween, reading the biographies of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan transported me from the safety of my loving home to the horror of a 19th century poorhouse, showed how words can bring light to the darkness, and made me believe it’s possible to overcome challenges to create a meaningful life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an adult, my mind was blown by Layne Redmond’s book “When the Drummers were Women; a Spiritual History of Rhythm.” I didn’t know drumming used to be a part of women’s spiritual practice, that history is biased by the fact it was written by the conquerors, and that there was an ancient Egyptian goddess of libraries. I now have a tattoo of Seshat on my right leg. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are you reading right now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m reading “Cleopatra: a Life” by Stacy Shiffer (hardcover) and “Rachel to the Rescue” by Elinor Lipman (audio on the Libby app).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Commissioner Traub at the Grand Opening of Reuben Hoar Library in Littleton in 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is your favorite thing about being a commissioner? I love visiting libraries throughout the Commonwealth and hearing the many ways they serve their communities with materials, programs and events. I’m proud to live in Massachusetts, a longtime leader in the nation when it comes to libraries. Commissioner Traub & Blades at East Forest Park in 2022. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[279],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1228"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1268,"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1228\/revisions\/1268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}