Information Outlook, Vol. 6, No. 7, July 2002
A Testimony to the Non-Stereotypical Librarian
by Nikki Poling
Nikki Poling is the assistant editor of Information Outlook.
Meet Sandra Kitt
Have you ever wondered what SLA members do in their spare time?
This month Assistant Editor Nikki Poling picked the mind of one librarian and SLA member, Sandra Kitt, to find out what our members are doing in their free time.
Sandra Kitt had always imagined she'd grow up to illustrate children's books, but she never suspected she would be writing fiction for adults one day.
Born and raised the eldest of four children in New York City, Kitt followed her dream of illustrating to City University, where she obtained her bachelor's in fine arts. (Eventually, she did do some illustrating, working on cards for UNICEF and designing two books with the late scientist Dr. Isaac Asimov.)
Kitt worked part-time during undergrad at the American Museum of Natural History's astronomy library, and was employed after graduation at a small advertising agency. After a few years, she decided to return to City University to pursue her master's degree and halfway through her program the museum director offered Kitt a position as head librarian at the astronomy library. Although she didn't have much knowledge of astronomy, Kitt did know how to manage the collection, so she accepted the position as a second career to her artwork.
"I enjoyed the fact that people came to me for help. And I found that I enjoyed helping them, that's the most simplistic level of it," Kitt said. "That is how it began, just functioning in the library to help people."
Kitt found the research aspect of the library profession fascinating. It challenged her and she welcomed the invitation. She considered herself an "information detective."
"The challenge was always, 'Can I find the answer to this question?' I became very determined that I could always have an answer," Kitt said.
With the feeling that she needed to learn more, Kitt enrolled in classes at the Hayden Planetarium with the staff astronomers. She attended lectures given by guest speakers and wound up meeting the likes of Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, John Wilford Noble and many of the astronauts from the Apollo moon missions.
"As I took on more responsibility, I also became much more innovative in developing programs, services and ideas that would better help me to find information for the publicand better help them focus their attention," Kitt said.
But Kitt's plate was still not full. In 1981, an idea popped into her head and she sat down to write.
"I didn't tell anyone what I was doing, because I didn't know what I was doing. For the most part, I was entertaining myself. I just had this neat idea," Kitt said. "I wanted to explore. So I would go home in the evenings and just work on it. But six weeks later, I had a 500-page manuscript."
Since Kitt had never considered writing before, she really had no expectations of getting published. But her ideas kept coming and after spending a year and a half churning her thoughts on to paper, she had produced three manuscripts.
"I had all these ideas that were coming really fast, and I said, 'Well, you know, maybe some of this is really legitimate, maybe it's publishable.' "
Ironically, the year that she finished her third manuscript, Kitt saw an article in the New York Times about a woman named Vivian Stephens who was starting a new line of books in New York for Harlequin Enterprise, the world's largest and oldest publisher of romance novels based in Canada. Kitt called Stephens, introduced herself and arranged a meeting.
"I knew nothing about publishing, so she gave me a crash course and explained what she was looking for," Kitt said. "At the end of meeting she said, 'Why don't you send me two of your three books and let me take a look at them.' So I did and she bought both of them. I sold two books ('Rites of Spring' and 'Adam and Eva') in a matter of a weekwithout the benefit of an agent."
When Kitt sold "Adam and Eva," she became the first ever African American to publish with Harlequin, while also going on to design a few books for them. But she became frustrated when publishers began branding her a romance writer.
"When I began writing, if you were a female writing stories with a romance, you were a romance writer. There really weren't many options," Kitt said.
As her writing career was getting off the ground, Kitt remained active as an artist and was still working in the library. By the time she sold her third manuscript ("All Good Things") to DoubleDay in 1983, she was "off and running."
"I found that I was doing a number of firsts at the time (especially in women's fiction)," Kitt explains. "I was one of the first writers who wrote from the female and male point of view. And I also diversified the population in my books. Very few books at the time were ethnically diverse.
By now, she was becoming antsycreatively speaking. In 1995 she produced a book that Harlequin passed on, giving her the opportunity to go to a bigger house, Penguin Putnam. The book, The Color of Love, would end up being Kitt's most popular work. It is currently in its 9th printing and has been optioned twice for film (once with HBO and the second time with a production company in L.A.).
"The Color of Love was my break out book from romance to more mainstream-type books. Twenty-five books later, it is still the one readers consistently tell me is their favorite book. I was very pleased with the way it turned out."
Kitt found that as she continued writing, her stories grew much larger and she began doing intense research. "Interestingly enough," Kitt said, "This harkens back to being a librarian."
She went from helping other people, to having to do her own research for specific projects. "I just LOVE the research, the process of exploring a subject and finding information," Kitt said. "One of my favorite techniques of research is interviewing people, interviewing experts in their field."
By being "totally involved and immersed" in her subjects, this research technique allows Kitt to "give the voice of authenticity" to her characters. Through interviews with NYC fire Marshals and police officers, FBI agents, Navy Seals, divers, weathermen, doctors, journalists and one young woman inflicted with sickle cell anemia, Kitt not only creates the complete character, but as she says, "I am also learning an awful lot."
Her latest book, She's the One, was released just one month before the September 11th terrorist attacks. The story featured a library director as the heroine and a New York firefighter as the hero. Also touching on her identity as a librarian, Kitt has produced a piece featuring an antiquarian book restorer as the heroine. But now she is trying to find a way to incorporate her work at the astronomy/astrophysics library into a story. One individual suggested a murder mystery.
Kitt laughs, "And we'll call it 'Murder in the Stars' or something."
In addition to her writing career and work at the library, Kitt teaches a publishing/creative writing course at a New Jersey college. She insists, "Every person has at least one good story in them, because we all come from interesting and unique family backgrounds and situations.
For those who have a hidden interest in writing, Kitt suggests keeping a journal and writing every day. "This gets you into the habit of paying attention to your feelings, emotions and insights on things. You become a much better observer of the world around you, because that is what a writer issomeone who observes life and people."
Kitt derives many of her story ideas from newspapers, magazines or stories she may see on the news or in movies. She also asks a lot of 'what-if' questions to get her started.
"I also cover social issues," said Kitt. "I have written about surrogate motherhood, abandoned children, race relations, race identity, interracial/class differences and relationships. I try to structure the story so anyone reading it will get something out of it."
After spending more than 20 years at the American Museum of Natural History, Kitt doesn't plan to give up any of her careers. She continues as a director of library staff for the museum, still works in the astronomy/astrophysics department and writes in her spare time. The thought of becoming a full-time writer has crossed her mind, but Kitt has three reasons for not leaving her day job.
"I really like being a librarian, I really love what I do," said Kitt. "I have been reluctant to let it go, because it has been such a satisfying career. A lot of very, very good friends have been made through SLA and as a member of the association and being a library professional, I have always loved those contacts. I've always found librarians to be very open, friendly, generous people and that's a society I have always really enjoyed."
The second reason: the unpredictability of the publishing industry. "Just because I am successful this year, doesn't mean I will be next year," Kitt said.
"And the third thing is, I am the kind of person that really needs to be around people. I need to have the connection both intellectually and emotionally," Kitt explains. "Contact is what gives me story ideas. To cut myself off and just write would be a disservice to myself as a writer.
Sandra Kitt will remain a librarian by day, a writer by night and a testimony to the non-stereotypical life librarians do lead. 
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