The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading

Berdahl is the owner and operator of the independent bookstore Wind City Books in Casper, Wyoming. She has a teenage daughter who keeps her abreast of developments on BookTok. Although she tries to steer younger readers away from some adult books, she firmly believes that everyone reads for different reasons and should have the final say in their own reading material. Berdahl always read vociferously growing up and knows how exciting and powerful books can be to children. Berdahl is very driven; she enjoys staying busy and challenging herself, so she is currently working hard to organize more and bigger author events at the store.

Ownes works as an adult services librarian at the public library in Denver, Colorado. She fell in love with libraries as a high schooler after discovering interlibrary loans. Patrons of the Denver public library have been very patient and accommodating while the building is under renovations, and unlike many surrounding libraries, they have not received many book challenges because the city is generally liberal. Nonetheless, Ownes is the co-chair of the Colorado Association of Libraries Intellectual Freedom Committee, so she is exposed to much of the current debate around