Walk into Christina Piscitello’s office, and you’ll notice a poster on the wall of Dr. Seuss’ Cat in the Hat and Harry Potter.

What may not seem like typical office-space artwork is commonplace for Piscitello, regional supervisor of Eva H. Perry Regional Library in Apex.

This outgoing, energetic mother of two has found the magical potion to combining her two passions, children and books: balance. Juggling the responsibilities of head librarian and motherhood is not an easy task, but Piscitello takes it all in stride while managing her busy lifestyle as well as one of North Carolina’s busiest libraries.

As a child herself, Piscitello had a positive library experience that contributed to her quest in reading.

“From a young age I went to the library regularly,” Piscitello said.

However, it wasn’t until college that she uncovered her bright future in library sciences. “My professor, a former New York City librarian, encouraged me to continue my studies at the University of Texas at Austin where I eventually received my master’s degree,” Piscitello said.

In 1988 she began working as a reference librarian at the North Regional library in Raleigh before being promoted to branch manager at the library in Wake Forest.

For the past two years, Piscitello has been running the show at Eva Perry, and things have been only getting better. In the 2005-2006 calendar year, the library was designated the busiest in North Carolina.

That means “more books were checked out or circulated than any other library” — 1.8 million books to be exact, Piscitello said.

Piscitello has also set five goals to reach the community and enhance patrons’ library experience.

“[Piscitello] believes strongly in customer service; customers are given number one priority at all times. She also believes in balancing work and family life,” said Honey Trippensee, youth services manager at Eva Perry.

Of course, Piscitello’s main goal is the service to young children in the hopes of igniting a lifelong interest in reading. Library patrons can easily see the effort throughout the children’s section: from the imaginative wall mural covered with fairy tale characters, to the showcased Effanbee story book series dolls, to the tree house with its soaring ceiling that reaches to the skylights above.

At the end of the day, Piscitello makes the long commute home to Wake Forest to her own children. Instead of leaving her work at the office, she brings a little bit of the magic home with her by sharing it with her sons. “Peter Pan” and “Goodnight Moon” are the popular bedtime story requests for the Piscitello boys, but “Bridge to Terabithia” by Katherine Paterson is Piscitello’s favorite children’s book.

“It makes me cry,” Piscitello admitted.

Hopefully, the kids will go to bed on time and Piscitello can enjoy reading from one of her favorite book selections. “I’m somewhat of an eclectic reader, genre-wise I like mystery, romance and general fiction,” Piscitello said. “I also like books with parallel stories, and I love time travel.”

Christina Piscitello Bio
Favorite Author: Jane Austen
Favorite Book:“Pride and Prejudice”
Favorite Character: Elizabeth Bennett
Popular book she has not read: “Harry Potter,” but she has seen all the movies.
Quotable: “Surprise books [“Harry Potter” for example] come out of the blue and burst on the scene and continue.”