No matter where she is, Mrs. Kristen Rademacher’s nose is deep in a book with the yearning to learn more. Radmacher has always loved reading, but getting here hasn’t been easy.

“Directly before this, I was in the business world,” says Rademacher. “Before that, I was in fine arts, performing.”

Rademacher had a variety of jobs earlier in her life. She was starting to lose interest in the business world when she was given a suggestion.

“A colleague at the time was like, ‘you should become a librarian,’” said Radmacher.

She had never considered becoming a librarian before. The more she looked into it, the more she was interested in the idea. By the end of her research, she was hooked, and ready to prepare for the job.

She went to graduate school, and earned herself a master’s degree in library science. She was very excited to be a librarian, but she was turned down at every interview.

“I just finished all my student teaching.  I was incredibly pregnant with my first baby,” says Rademacher. “Every interview I went to for those months leading into that first baby, everyone just took one look at the belly and was like, ‘we don’t want to hire somebody who’s pregnant.’”

She was very frustrated by the constant rejection. She had a great track record of work history yet nobody accepted her, until she tried with Marist.

“They did an over the phone interview, because when they called me, I was literally in the hospital, having just given birth,” says Rademacher. “I did my first interview with Mr. Tucker in the hospital bed, and he was gracious and lovely about it. He gave me several days before I had to come in for a physical interview and actually get a tour of the school.”

Marist is all about family, so they didn’t hesitate in happily taking in the new mom. She’s been given many job offers since  and she’s taken none of them.

“I’ve stayed at Marist for 16 years because of what it is, what their school is, and how they take care of their family,” says Rademacher.

Now, her own kid is a student at Marist, and she’s been able to teach him and countless other students.

”I’ve been people’s teacher and librarian here for 14 years before he even got here,” she says.

She’s also been the book club moderator for the past 12 years.

“It got big right away. We had over 20 members that first year, and its never gotten smaller since,” says Rademacher.

This year’s club is the biggest it’s ever been, with around 37 members.

Many Marist students love heading to the library for a chance to find some great books, and she’s always there to share them.

“She’s really nice, and gave me some good book recommendations for my English class,” says freshman Samantha Raymond.