Sue Phillips, on Massachusetts, unions, and literature | Humans of Catlin Gabel
By Brittney Haldorsen ‘25
Photo Courtesy of Catlin Gabel School (CGS)
Sue Phillips is a friendly face you can encounter in the library and across campus. Some may recognize her for playing the Irish harp or delving into new and unique topics. But she is mostly known for her kindheartedness and constant willingness to have a meaningful chat that always leaves you smiling.
Sue spent her childhood in North Eastern Massachusetts, in what she described as “a teeny tiny parish that wasn’t even big enough to call a town.” With a population of less than 2000 people, everyone in the community was naturally more than well-acquainted.
Despite attending small schools throughout the earlier years of her education, Sue attended a large regional high school serving three neighboring towns.For college, she attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, which had approximately 20,000 students at the time.
According to Sue, she felt pressured by her high school science teachers to major in microbiology and initially planned to do so. However, after testing it out, she swiftly realized her true passion was to major in English.
“My two best and favorite subjects in high school were English,” said Sue.“I loved poetry and literature.”
Having resided in Massachusetts throughout her early life, she only left the state upon exiting college, driven by academia, she found work at Tufts University, specifically at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
However, she soon discovered this role was not the right fit, so she sought out assistance from Human Resources, but they didn’t want to help solve the problem, she had with her boss.
Sue transitioned to work for the chair of the Department of German, Russian, and Asian Languages and Literatures at Tufts.
Subsequently, she was invited to assist in the creation of a union, a task she happily embraced. This opportunity led to a job at Harvard University, specializing in labor union organizing, for a number of years.
As her partner sought a physical therapy job, they encountered a saturated Boston market, prompting them to search for out-of-state jobs. They found opportunities in Oregon, which, at the time, she pronounced Oregon (Or-uh-gone). So, in 1993, they moved here, managing to immediately purchase a house.
Upon her initial arrival to the West Coast, Sue took a while to find fulfilling work and spent a period as a community organizer. Realizing she loved talking to people and getting things done, she decided to attend graduate school, thinking she wanted to be an English teacher.
However, a friend’s suggestion prompted her to reconsider, “Have you ever thought about being a librarian?” For Sue, this was the moment she realized what she wanted to do. She exclaimed “Bing!! The lightbulb went off.”
Sue made a switch and pursued a different master's degree in Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois. Following this, she held positions at several colleges, loving the complex questions students asked.
Eventually, a high school librarian position opened at CGS. She was initially skeptical of working with high school students, but the conversations she had with students while interviewing shifted her opinion. “Everyone was smart and nice and asked thoughtful questions,” said Sue.
Reflecting on her previous roles at colleges, she realized she never got the chance to follow up on the questions asked by her students. Sue was never able to ask “How did your thesis come out? " or “Did that paper go well?” Due to the high number of students who passed through, she lacked the actual one-on-one connection to her students.
At CGS she found joy in connecting with everyone who enters and exits the library.
“That to me is a better deal, it makes me happier, which is why I stayed here,” said Sue.
Looking ahead, Sue envisions retiring in the next several years and spending half the year living in England and the other half traveling. Keep an eye out for her in a small cozy cottage in rural Somerset in seven years.
Sue prefers to be called by her first name because it brings a more inviting presence for her.