Greenburgh Public Library Blog

Staff Spotlight: Marina Payne

Marina Payne has been working at the library for almost 10 years. She started when she was 15 years old as a page, hired by the now retired Head of Children’s Services Gail Fell. Marina was originally interviewed when the old library was being renovated and began when the new building was opened in 2009. Her journey may have begun as a page but she has recently been promoted to a part-time clerk for both Youth Services and Circulation. It was a natural next step as she loves working here at the library. “I have been coming to this library since I was very small. My whole family has always been avid book readers, going to the summer reading club and brining home piles of books every week. I was also homeschooled so the library played a big role and was a big resource for us. Every time we started studying something new we came and chose new books for that subject. Eventually I got to start picking my own books. After I finished high school I went on to Westchester Community College. While I was there I was still paging here but then I went to the University of Hartford Art School. I was living on campus during that time and was only working here at the library during the summers.”

Marina now has an Associate’s Degree in visual arts and a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts & Illustration. When asked if she wants to continue working in the library or move to a field of work that embraces her degrees she replies; “I am still doing art on the side but I really want to continue my work at the library and I am considering going on for my Master’s in Library Science. This is all still in the planning stages but it would be nice to go from clerking to librarian one day.”

Marina is still able to call on her talents as an artist here at the library and out on her own. “I already use my degree here by helping decorate the children’s area; doing bulletin boards and summer reading visuals. It is nice to put my passions together to create something unique here in the building. On my own I have been doing some private commissions of art through portraiture and also by selling my printed designs online. It’s been going pretty well.”

There are many materials here at the library that can help a budding artist find inspiration and cultivate creativity. “I have always been influenced by picture books and comics and I have always been interested in the way art and books work telling a story through images and words working together. I love looking at Jerry Pinkney’s books because I too work mostly in water color and the way that he paints in watercolor is so beautiful. The Lion and the Mouse is a most standout example, he needs no words to tell his story. Whenever I am putting books away in the children’s room I am always taking a moment to look at the cover art and the illustrations before I shelve them.”

When looking at Marina’s artwork you can see many different influences in her designs. Besides Pinkney, Marina’s work draws on Maurice Sendak and the whimsical nature of his art. 

Another standout artist for Marina is Todd Harris. Harris illustrated a fiction series for children called The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy. “The expression that he gives the characters is charming and funny and they are extreme enough while still being very pretty to look at.”

But not all of Marina’s favorites have illustrations. “Right now I am currently reading Reticence by Gail Carriger part of the Custard Protocol series and it is kind of a steam punk alternative history with vampires and werewolves thrown in with extremely funny dialog to carry the story.”

The Ramos-Paynes have a bit of a legacy here at the library. Marina’s mother Cristina is a full-time circulation clerk. This fall Mariana’s younger sister Sierra will be joining us a volunteer in the Youth Services Department. And there are still more siblings at home. Maybe they too, will continue the Ramos-Payne library legacy.