About Me
My name is Gretchen Becherer, and I've been the librarian at Kirk O'The Valley School since 2007. Wow! That's a long time! I'm also the teacher's aid for fourth and fifth grades. One of the reasons I've been here so long is that I'm actually a parent to Jackson, a ninth grader, and Jane, a sixth grader, both Kirk alumni. My kids are in the midst of tweendom and teenage years, so I've gotten to know a lot about the Kirk Library collection from personal experience. I make it a habit to keep up on the latest books and series, whether it's through a site like goodreads, or what my students recommend to me themselves.
I am from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and got my Bachelor of Arts in English and Communications at the University of Iowa. Upon graduation, I moved to Duluth, MN, where I worked as a Director at a local public access channel, as well as a Technical Director at an ABC news affiliate, WDIO/WIRT TV. In 1994, I moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the entertainment industry and worked as an agent for Directors of Photography for food commercials, as well as visual efx D.P.'s for movies like Lord of the Rings. After having my two wonderful children and enrolling them at Kirk, I started volunteering, then working, in the Kirk Library. I am presently pursuing my Masters Degree in Library and Information Science at San Jose State University, and have recently written both and Advocacy Plan, as well as a Collection Management Policy for the Kirk School.