Taken by Redd F, from Unsplash

Attention all bookworms (and non-readers)! Get ready to meet the newest member of library staff: Mr Pullen! If you have been here since prep, and are in your senior years of high school, you may remember him, and he is back! He is our new Head of Library, overseeing both Primary and Secondary. I had the incredible opportunity to meet up and interview him.

Bella: Hi Mr Pullen, what did you do before coming to William Clarke?

Mr Pullen: Hi Bella! I worked at the College before from 2012 to 2016 as a library assistant. But for the last 7 years, I have been the Head of Library over at Penrith Anglican College.

Bella: Cool. So, what does your role look like as Head of Library at the College?

Mr Pullen: I’ve been learning that over the past two weeks. I am getting an idea of how I support the teacher librarians who run a lot of the Primary classes for students, how I support the great team of library assistants that we have and how to ensure that we have a great range of books and other resources for students to use. Also, for me, just getting to know which students use the library, how they use it, and making sure we have the resources so that they can use the library as best as they want to.

Bella: Yeah, that’s so cool. You have so many schools you could go to, to do this, but why William Clarke?

Mr Pullen: Well, it is a fantastic place to work at. I started my career here and my career in schools here at William Clarke in 2012. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s so close to my home. It’s the school that I hope to send my daughter to; she’s 3 going on 4. But I really, really like this place. My wife was a student at this school – again – many years ago. I really love this place and when the opportunity to return came, I pounced on it and thankfully, I got it.

Bella: Less on the WCC stuff now. What is your favourite book genre?

Mr Pullen: Mystery. Crime mystery.

Bella: Same! And relating to that, what are three books that you will always recommend?

Mr Pullen: Ok. From my youth, strange one, but I’m really into motor racing. I remember my dad had a book on it and it’s the name of a Formula 1 driver. For so many years it was just a book that stayed on my shelf. I don’t know what it was about it. Maybe just the fact that it was something that I grew up with and was strongly connected to. I loved reading that one. So, Ayrton Senna, The Hard Edge of Genius I think is the title of that one. Anything by Michael Connolly. I’m a huge fan of his Detective Bosch series and now the Rachel Ballard as well. I got to meet him a couple of years ago which was really cool. Um, okay. Third one. Look I’m going to throw in a picture book in there because I think it’s important to have balance. It’s Monsieur Albert Rides to Glory. It’s a kid’s picture book that talks about a guy who is a cyclist; I like cycling as well. Is about a guy who wins the Tour De France purely by accident. It’s a good read.

Bella: Yeah. Have you ever written or tried to write a book?

Mr Pullen: No, I haven’t tried to. No, that would be a huge task. Maybe when I retire, I’ll get to it in those years. It would be a good challenge.

Bella: So, how old were you when you got into reading?

Mr Pullen: If I think about when my mum read stories to me, I can still remember the feeling that I had. The joy I got from hearing those stories, really young. So, pre-school. My mum is a librarian by the way and as I grew up, she always encouraged me to do Premier’s Reading Challenge. She bought a whole range of different books on my shelves that I enjoyed reading. I enjoy reading Non-fiction as much as I do fiction. So, there’s normally something on the shelves that I can get into. So, I guess for an age, year 1, year 2. That’s when I became more of an independent reader, and I was reading books myself rather than them being read to me.

Bella: As you go into your new role at the College, what do you think your biggest challenge will be and how can we help you?

Mr Pullen: Thank you. I think my biggest challenge will be learning how the library is used and what students are looking for from the library. Then delivering that as well. So, at the moment we have a great range of resources that students can use. So, one is promoting those so that staff and students know about them. Two is finding out how they use that information and tailoring services from the library so that it is really useful for them.

Bella: So, did you start your career in 2012 at WCC or did you do something else before that?

Mr Pullen: Yes, I began in 2012 at William Clarke, so that was all brand new. At that time, I had done two years of a library degree and Mr Stan, who was the Head of Library at the time back then, employed me as a library assistant. So, I started working in the library and learning about it then which was pretty cool. That was the start of my working journey at libraries.

Bella: Awesome. What words of wisdom would you give to your high school self?

Mr Pullen: Take initiative. When I was younger, I was a person who would sit back and just wait for things to happen. As an adult, I realise you have to go and grab things sometimes and take the initiative. Be more confident in your abilities and trust that you will come up with solutions to the problems that are in front of you. You will work it out. The last thing is a bit contradictory but be more patient as well. There will be opportunities that you want but they don’t come up at certain times. But in lots of instances, God has been gracious to me and so it’s been a matter of praying and earnestly waiting for things to come. And sometimes they do. So, I think patience is also a key part in that process.

Bella: That’s great. Why should the William Clarke community visit the library and borrow a book?

Mr Pullen: Ooh! Great question. Because they will extend themselves, learn about themselves, learn to empathise with other people, learn new facts, find answers to assignments, and answer questions about both school and everyday life. It is natural to question the environment that you are in and a library is a place where you can go to find answers about that. Even just satisfying your curiosity through reading or escaping into a good book and getting away from whatever stressful things life brings you.

Bella: That sounds amazing. What is your favourite book quote? If you can think of one off the top of your head.

Mr Pullen: I am going to give a quote about the library, it’s always fresh in my mind. “Google can give you a million answers, a librarian can point you to the right one.”

Bella: That’s beautiful. And a last – hopefully easy one to finish off. What is your Harry Potter house?

Mr Pullen: Now, okay. Hufflepuff. What are you?

Bella: I’m a Slytherin.

Mr Pullen: Ah, okay. Well, there you go.

Bella: Thank you for doing this interview.

Mr Pullen: You are so welcome!

Looking back on my conversation with Mr Pullen, I think we can all see how much he loves William Clarke, the library, and literature. I can confirm he is quite nice and a pleasure to talk to. So, what are you waiting for? Go introduce yourself and make him feel welcome. I think it is safe to say we will have more exciting things coming from the library with Mr Pullen on board this year!