Judy Angus Bortscheller's life: Read all about it

(Just about the time the Trailboss was thinking about finally hoisting one at the Bugaboo bar Friday night, the following missive came screeching into the blog mailbox. Technically, there is no deadline for the blog. It will remain up as long as we keep getting material to put on it, then it will quietly fade away. So keep sending stuff and make the Class Record complete. It doesn't matter if you've already contributed. There is no limit to cyberspace. This is a great note from Judith Angus. Her twin sister, Joyce, responded earlier -- well, not that much earlier. Saturday's reunion had three sets of twins dining at one table: Helies, Buelkes, Kloehns. Watch for photos. -- Trailboss)

Hi Stan:
Am I the last to respond; nothing like having a deadline. You're probably already heading up to Alex but even if it's the last minute, I thought I'd send this off. As you will read, I happen to work in a library and we're always getting donations from the public. In one of the boxes was one of your dad's books - Petticoat Pioneer - so I brought it home to read. I enjoy reading about strong women and the difference they make in the world. Now my question is--- this is a first printing of the book. I intend to take it back to the library; will we be able to sell it for mucho bucks? Maybe I should keep it alongside my first edition, self published Term Limits by Vince Flynn which is selling for about $350 on the net.
On to the bio.....
I, like Lorlee, went to the University of Minnesota, Morris graduating with a degree in social work. It didn't take me long to figure out that I didn't want to be a social worker; I wanted to be a library rat althought I never thought of it in those terms until I read Lorlee's bio. Needing some cash to continue my education, I found a job and began night school for library science.
No category for cutest granddogs
At the business I worked at, I met Phil and even though I played hard to get, he was persistent. We ended up getting married in 1970. It's amazing how fast the past 35 years have gone. We lived 15 years in Golden Valley and then moved to Shorewood (west of Excelsior) twenty years ago. We have five children; the first two were identical twin girls and the other three were boys. Their ages range from 31 down to 19; we are lucky to have them all living close by. None are married yet so no grandchildren for us. Since I didn't see a category for cutest granddogs, I have not enclosed any photos.
Never a boring day at the library
After taking 10 years off of work to be home with the kids, I became a part time librarian at an elementary school. I worked there about 6 years, and then in 1990, I was hired by the Hennepin County Public Library system which has 26 libraries in suburban Minneapolis. I currently work at the Edina Library. There is never a boring day working at the library. The public is always challenging us to find information so every day is like a treasure hunt. The electronic world has made a huge difference in how we do our job. The librarians have to not only use the databases to answer questions, we have to train the public on how to use them. At the end of this month, the library is switching software for the catalog so if the staff gets too comfortable, we know changes and/or additional electronic tools will snap us out of our complacency. Besides that, I order some material, weed books out the collection because they are damaged or no longer used, do a lot of readers' advisory individually and to groups and my new task this year is to do baby storytimes. It has been delightful.
After the library job, reading
In my spare time, my main pasttime has always been and continues to be reading. I love seeing plays, hearing music and going to see art which Minneapolis offers a wide variety of options. I also love to grow flowers; living in Shorewood pits my flower growing against the critters that like to eat them. You should see my imitation of a banshee as I go running across my yard yelling at the deer who come for lunch. We also like to travel. As the late author Susan Sontag wrote, "I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list."
Wishing all of you a great time at the reunion this weekend.
--Judith Angus Bortscheller