“You belong in every story, every realm, every library, just as you are.”
– Aiden Thomas, author of The Cemetery Boys
Whether one’s a reader or simply needs a place to relax, students always have a safe place at the FHHS school library.
Librarians are an integral part of a school community. They’re in charge of some of the most lucrative objects in the world—books. Mr. Hetko and Mx. Wang run the show in the safe space students call the library; the regulars know that the school wouldn’t be the same without them.
“I love hanging out in the library after school. The librarians are always up for conversation, and I really enjoy talking to them,” a senior shared.
Mx. Wang
Mx. Wang is the newest librarian—they joined FHHS only last year—so they’re still getting used to it all. Mx. Wang is on B session and always available to students. If you’re in search of a book, need a recommendation, or simply need someone to talk to, Mx. Wang is available in the library.
“I am, in school, the advisor for the Dungeons and Dragons club, but I also play a lot of tabletop games with my community… I am a poet, before I became a classroom teacher, that was part of how I made my living, actually, I was a teaching artist and a poet,” they shared.
Mx. Wang reports hobbies such as macrame, tapestry weaving, and cyanotype. “[Cyanotype] is a type of printmaking where the ink is processed using sunlight. It’s this beautiful, deep blue color, and that’s something I got into over the summer. Oh, I also do some, like, clown performances and that’s also very new.”
Fiber arts and clown performances? Mx. Wang definitely has a busy schedule. However, they always make time for the students who show up at the library—greeting them with a smile.
“I love getting to build relationships with students and really practice community engagement. Getting to celebrate students every day is the best part of my job.”
Mr. Hetko
The librarian all students know and love, Mr. Hetko, has been here for years, and yet some of the students don’t know him well enough.
“I had a whole kind of other phase of life before starting as a librarian, where I worked as a musician, taught music lessons.” Who knew?!
“Yeah, I play guitar. And a few other instruments like banjo and mandolin. During that time, I [also] did music lessons for adults with disabilities.”
Aside from his musical prowess, Mr. Hetko also enjoys walking in the city and riding his bike.
And, in true Mr. Hetko fashion, he took the opportunity to recommend a book: “Actually, there’s a book which is kind of—it’s a funny title, considering what I just said, but it’s called A Walker in the City. It’s about this guy growing up in the 1920s… It’s like a memoir. And it’s talking about his experiences walking around Brooklyn and his reflections on how life was like for him as a young person.”
To anyone interested in learning more about Brooklyn or who grew up in the area, this may be the book for you.
Although Mr. Hetko is a busy father to two young children (“I am a dad of two small kids. A baby, five months now, and a two-year-old,”) and is the advisor for the chess club, he is always quick to help out anyone in need of a book recommendation.
“It can be really fun to talk with a student about what they’re looking for in a book and really get down to their interests and then get the feedback from that person. To hear like, ‘yes, this is exactly what I wanted,’ or ‘no, that wasn’t quite it.’ And then, when you finally get it right and match someone with a book that really speaks to them, that’s a great feeling,” shared Mr. Hetko.
A message to FHHS students:
School libraries foster growth, learning, and the imagination of students. As the digital age takes hold, it’s worth remembering where all knowledge truly originates—books!
P.S.: If you’re a reader, Mr. Hetko recommends the graphic novel Brownstone, by Samuel Teer.
