Even though Karina Mendoza volunteered at the Denair library as a teenager, she never saw herself with a career in library sciences and she admits she had a very limited view of what librarians did all day.

“I thought they shelved books and shushed people,” Mendoza said.

Now, she knows there is a lot more to the job and she loves it all.

Mendoza is the new librarian for the Turlock Library after former librarian Diane Bartlett retired a few months ago. Prior to coming to Turlock, Mendoza was the librarian at the Oakdale branch and before that she worked at the Denair and Keyes branches.

“Being a librarian is about more than books,” Mendoza said. “It’s about serving the community and helping people with a problem or a question find the answer or the solution.”

Mendoza grew up in Denair and graduated from Denair High School. She went to UC Santa Cruz where she studied history and politics and graduated in 2002. After spending some years working in the library system, she decided to go to librarian school and from there was hired to oversee the Oakdale branch.

Mendoza comes to the Turlock library just as the new facility is in the final stages of preparation for the grand re-opening. The ceremony to mark the completion of the new library is set for 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 9 at 550 N. Minaret Street.