 Norma
Sumner McKellar was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio on a snowy day
December 21, 1950. She grew up in a very close and loving neighborhood
on a street named "Fiddlers Green". These Yankee/Northerners had
covered-dish get-togethers as well as hayrides! She attended Oak Hills
High School where everything was of a Scottish nature. The school had
it's own tartan, band and cheerleadering uniforms included the tartan,
the dance line did a sword dance to our fight song, the mascot was a
Scottish terrier, and the yearbook was called the "Caledonian". After
graduation she attended Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North
Carolina where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in teaching.
She then returned to Cincy and taught third grade at an elementary
school that she had attended. After a few years she longed for
something new, so she moved to Moultrie, Georgia, attended Florida State
University where she acheived her Masters of Library Science degree and
became a children's librarian at the Moultrie-Colquitt County Library.
During this time she met, fell in love with, and married a native of
Sylvester, Georgia, Berry McKellar. They have two children: Sara
Sumner, age 19 and Joseph Reed, age 18. Sara is attending Abraham
Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) for now. She plans to finish up
with a teaching degree at a bigger four-year university. Reed is a
freshman at Georgia Southern University where he is majoring in
"undecided" and working on a minor in medical research.
After twenty-five years Norma still enjoys
her job. The actual Children's Library is in the same room, but Norma's
office gets moved every once in a while. Norma says that's her
director's way of hinting that she needs to straighten up her "stuff".
Throughout her career, Norma has traveled to New York, Kentucky, Texas,
and Florida. She loves going to storytelling festivals and dreams of
growing up to be a storyteller. A true highlight of her career was
teaching at a librarian's workshop alongside world-famous storyteller,
Augusta Baker. Just imagine the collection of lessons, stories,
bulletin boards, activities, and just plain fun stuff she has
accumulated. She hopes to share all that she can and looks forward to
helping everyone who works with children.
Norma's major interests, in addition to
children's books, include puppets, rocks, silly poems and
"antics", storytelling, and music.
Here's Norma in action:
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