About Me

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Getting to Know Me

I currently am a library assistant at a high school library and I love it. It, and my coworkers, inspired me to go for my masters to become an actual school librarian.

Rochelle posing funny in a bright yellow sweatshirt and jeans in front of a giant rock formation that has been painted to look like a giant frowning frog.
Me, in a "I Read Banned Books" shirt I designed, at Frog Rock in Eastford, CT because I love frogs and it was necessary to pose with it.

Once Upon a Time

I started off my career as a graphic designer while working in a library. I have also volunteered and interned at a museum, and worked at an educational non-profit for many years. Then while transitioning into a career change the pandemic happened. I started a bookish business (sold in 18 states!) and started a Little Free Library in my community which threw me into career options I never thought of ... but should have known! It seems that everything I have done has always led me back to books and libraries.

Hobbies

When I'm not at school (physically and online) I love crafting (crochet, knitting, sewing ... basically anything I can make with my hands). I also love reading (duh) where I lean toward fantasy (I recently discovered "romantasy" and I'm smitten) but also love a good historical fiction, literary fiction, horror, and everything in between. I prefer physical books but I love listening to audiobooks as well. 

This book belongs to Rochelle Hickey book graphic

Favourite Books

  • North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
  • Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
  • Watership Down by Richard Adams
  • Lord of the Rings (the whole thing!) by J.R.R. Tolkien

Favourite Authors

  • Jane Austen (I've read all of her books)
  • Paula Brackston (I read everything but she's still writing!)
  • Michael Crichton (I've read all of his books)

With my husband we love exploring and going on ghost tours, especially if the ghost tour focuses on local history. We've done tours in Reykjavik, Iceland; Savannah, GA; Salem, MA; Concord, MA; Newport, RI; and Portland, ME. We also enjoy watching movies and are currently on a Nicholas Cage marathon where we are watching every movie he's ever made ... in order! We're getting close to finishing! My movie watching is like my book reading: I love everything.

Fun Book-to-Movie-Related Travel Facts

  • I've been to Hobbiton in New Zealand and it was a dream.
  • I've looked out at Mount Doom while sipping tea.
  • I've been to the "entry gate" for Jurassic Park in Hawaii.
  • I've seen the Mercer House from Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in Georgia.

Fun Book-Related Facts

  • I MIGHT have seen Stephen King at a gas station in Maine—this is unconfirmed—yet I still believe it COULD have been him.
  • I met the illustrator for all the Goosebumps books, Tim Jacobus. I might have geeked out.
  • I once had an independent author sing "Happy Birthday" to me in Italian opera in the middle of a store. It was great.

Looking into the Future

My dream is to run a school library one day, and perhaps one day finished my TBR. Ha, but let's be real, only one of these things is actually accomplishable. 

Graphic of a woman with dark hair juggling books while reading a book.