Mother of God Monastery
110  28th Ave. SE ~  Watertown,  SD  57201
Phone: 605-882-6600  Fax: 605-882-6658
monastery@dailypost.com

COMMUNITY

SISTER LYNN OSIKA

Hi! I'm S. Lynn Osika.  I first came to the monastery as a Lay Associate to work on the grounds, I then stayed and now have been a professed member of the monastery since 1988.  Prior to that I earned degrees in forestry and range management from Michigan Tec Univ. and the Univ. of Wyoming and I worked as an agricultural researcher in northeast Kansas.  During my first years in the monastery I cared for our grounds, worked in maintenance, the business office and eventually, Harmony Hill Library.  After receiving a master's degree in library science from the Univ. of Missouri in 1993, I continued to work in Harmony Hill Library, served as monastery librarian, and also worked at the Watertown Regional Library.

Currently I am the Adult Services Librarian for Brookings Public Library where I say that I have the best job because I get to see all the new books first.  I order all the books for the adult collection as well as for reference and SD collections.  I am also assistant Director and in charge of the historical collections which contains a lot of local history items.  Some of the more interesting things we have are copies of the original city charter from 1900, and the entire set of handwritten letters and board minutes since the library's inception in 1914, and many early larger ledger type books of very early city council minutes and records.  Many issues of today were the same ones facing library staff in the early days too.

Some may wonder how my job fits in with being a Benedictine?  I actually gave that talk a few times the first year I was in Brookings to some church and philanthropic groups, so let me tell you.  Education has always been a value to Benedictines.  Hospitality is another hallmark.  I guess I see my job as making people feel welcome and at home in their library, helping them to find information they need or if we can't answer something, then suggesting another source to try.  These days libraries are more than just books and certainly are much less quiet than places of old.  We have movies for entertainment, music CDs, Books on Tape, CD-ROM games, newspapers, magazines, internet access--all free to county residents with a library card.  Some may not be able to afford resources or a computer; they can borrow ours.  And the kids come after school and on weekends to use computers and visit their friends.

Being only 50 miles away from the monastery is really great since I can get home for meetings or just to "go home for the weekend".  Living in a smaller college town has many opportunities for culture and recreation.  When not working I enjoy walking through McCrory Gardens, visiting the art museum, biking the many miles of trails and country roads, ice skating, going to plays and concerts on campus and, of course, reading.