Betsy Groban, senior v-p and publisher of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers, and Julie Roach, manager of Youth Services at the Cambridge Public Library, hatched a scheme one day.
As Roach recalled, “It started when Betsy, my regular library patron, said to me, ‘You know, if I had your job, I could walk to work.’ ”
“That’s funny,” Roach replied. “If I had your job, I could walk to work.” “Let’s switch jobs for a day,” Groban suggested. Roach loved the idea.
“I wouldn’t know how to begin to do Betsy’s job, so we shadowed each other instead,” Roach said. “I enjoyed every minute of my day at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt – the lovely walk there through the Boston Public Garden, the early production meeting, and each department that followed. Betsy made sure I spent time with everyone. What a dream to have art director Scott Magoon show me step-by-step how he shepherds a submission into a completed picture book! I spent my day reveling in a little bit of the mountain of intricate behind-the-scenes work that goes into each book. Even at lunch, there was a lively book discussion with the New York office over pizza. The place was alive with the spirit of book-making and it was a joy to be a part of it, even for just a day. I think I have the best job in the world, but Betsy’s job is surely a close second!”
“I spend a lot of time at the library anyway,” Groban recounted, “because it is a beautifully renovated and exciting place to be. Not to mention all the books. What was especially fun about spending the day shadowing Julie is that she is a ROCK STAR at story hours (two in one day, for the tiniest of kids!) and a consummate pro at leading a pizza-fueled middle-grade book discussion. Julie also had a fun surprise for me, which was that Emily Meyer, my wonderful former assistant, had just started working at the library as a Youth Services librarian. I don’t spend nearly enough time with kids, and seeing a city full of kids interacting with and excited about books is a great reminder that the work we do is important and worthwhile.”
