Photo of new South Salem High School Librarian Carrie Litchfield. Photo taken by Peyton Mack, ’27.
With the new school year comes new staff. Following the retirement of South Salem High School’s old librarian, Mr. Rick Scott, South students now have a new librarian, Mrs. Carrie Litchfield. Litchfield graduated from Willamette University with a major in sociology and a minor in American history.
She might be recognized throughout the Salem Keizer community, and has been in the district since 2005. From elementary to high school, Litchfield has taught all levels around Salem Keizer, but finally decided to come to South for her kids.
“When this job came along, I was like, these are my kids, the seniors are my kids that I taught in 5th grade. It is also only six minutes from my house, and it is in the Canadalaria area. I also heard such good things about the staff, and really good things about the administration. So I just decided that it was time for me to be supported and get back in the library,” Litchfield said.
Experience Thus Far at South Salem
With her new community, Litchfield has the opportunity to learn about South’s library system, students and staff. Furthermore, she enjoys being a librarian at South because it is much more laid back than teaching.
“Being a librarian is like being the fun aunt at school. I do not have to do a lot of grading, I do not have to make a curriculum and I get to read books as my homework. I also love buying books for kids in mind. It is kind of like being Santa Claus. You get to bring the joy and be the finance and then not have any of the responsibilities of a teacher,” Litchfield said.
One of the biggest impacts South has made on Litchfield is how supportive the staff is.
“One of the first things I noticed was just how incredibly supportive the administration was. I had this weekend planned with some friends over Labor Day weekend that we had made in January, and as the librarian, I had all these Yondr pouches to label, and I would feel awful and stressed the whole trip, and the administration and all the office staff stayed on friday, knowing that I had this trip and did all of the Yondr pouches for me. I was able to thoroughly enjoy my weekend with my friends. I feel so incredibly lucky to have administrators who care about their staff,” Litchfield said.
Along with the staff, she also has a connection with her old students. This gives her another chance to watch them all graduate.
“I love seeing my candalaria kids along with their little brothers and sisters, because I watched and taught these people as kids and now I get to see them all grown up,” Litchfield said.
As with every change, becoming South’s librarian comes with different challenges, albeit small ones.
“The library is not organized the way I have had my libraries organized, so that is taking some time to get used to. Just like where things are, is this system going to work for me, things like that. I am just playing around to see how I like it,” Litchfield said.
Hobbies and Interests
True to her role at school, Litchfield enjoys reading. She enjoys everything from Young Adult dystopian, such as Hunger Games, to non-fiction, to learn.
If I want to escape, I am reading dystopia. Like Hunger Games, Fahrenheit 451, things like that. I used to think all those things would never happen, and now it is scary, and kind of true to life. But I do love learning stuff. So if I am interested in something, I am going to pick up a non-fiction book and read about it. I also read realistic fiction. It gets me in the mindset of someone who is walking through the world a little bit different than me,
Litchfield said.
But one of her most surprising hobbies is her interest in scuba diving.
“I love to scuba dive. I will not scuba dive here because it is too cold, but I like to go to tropical locations and see cool stuff underwater. Last summer, I went to a Caribbean island called Bonaire, which is a diving island. The whole thing is a marine reserve. So I just walked off the beach and went scuba diving,” Litchfield said.
