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Cloquet children's librarian Morgan Reardon grew up in Ashland, Wisconsin, about a 90-minute drive from Cloquet and a stone's throw away from Lake Superior.
Boating, swimming, fishing and playing on the shoreline were all fun youth activities. Reardon was active in high school in drama, choir, speech and soccer. She is a Bad River tribal member and often visited with close family on the reservation, about an hour away. When she was in eighth grade, representatives from the University of Wisconsin-Madison came to Ashland High School to introduce students to the PEOPLE program, the Pre-College Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence. Once she and her family learned more about the program and its benefits, Madison enrolled.
"It takes a big commitment: four high school summers of attendance time at the university in Madison," Reardon said. "But the inducement is a four-year full-ride scholarship to the university." She graduated from high school in 2016 and then the University of Wisconsin with an degree in English literature and American Indian studies.
While she was in Madison, Morgan worked in the Social Work Library for five years. She helped her supervisor with hiring, collection development and event planning. She also has continued to be best friends with other students she met when she was 15 in the pre-college program. Reardon earned her master's degree in library information and information studies, primarily online due to the Covid pandemic.
She has two younger brothers. Her stepmom ran a daycare center. She also did volunteer babysitting while in college.
"Seems like I've always taken an interest in children's literature and Native American involvement in writing and storytelling," Reardon said.
The children's librarian position at Cloquet Public Library is Morgan's first post-college job.
She said everyone has been very friendly.
"It has been a very nice transition taking Keiko's former position," she said of Keiko Satomi, now the adult services librarian. "Keiko and [other] staff have done a wonderful job of building a diverse children's library collection."
Morgan is continuing that work, seeking out children's books by Native American, disabled, LGBTQIA+, Black, Asian and other cultures and backgrounds to expand the collection. "There has been a boom in diversity in children's literature," she said. "Any child should be able to find themselves in a book."
Reardon enjoys meeting local authors and representatives of the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College and the Fond du Lac Reservation while building partnerships with the library.
"Kids need to feel welcome and valued when they come to the library," she said.