Imagine this dream, if you dare: Bronx bomber Mike McGowans dancing a jig on second base in Yankee Stadium after smacking a ground-rule double. But fans notice almost immediately that both pockets on his pin-striped uniform are bulging with well, its hard to tell.

McGowan, grinning like a cheshire cat from his perch in the infield, pulls out from one pocket a giant Nathans Famous hot dog thats easily a foot longer than the bun that precariously cradles it. He raises the dog to the sky.

From his other pocket hes grinning wider now he pulls out a billy clubbed-sized, dripping, kale-green kosher pickle that would make any true New Yorker drool with pride. He raises that, too, to the sky.

The crowd cheers!

Eat em Mike! Eat em! they yell.

He does one gulp after another until dog and pickle are but messy memories.

It all makes perfect sense. Really.

You know, when I was a kid, all I wanted to be was a baseball player in the summer and own a deli (New York delicatessen) in the off season, McGowan said recently.

Then he became a librarian.

Mike McGowan, 63, public services specialist at the Yelm Timberland Library, has worked his magic at the branch for the past 25 years, specializing in children's programming and reference services.

Nothing ever replaced that dream (of baseball and deli) until the library, he added, and I never expected to get the job.

The New York City native, now 63, has worked at the Yelm Timberland Library for 25 years, his current title of public services specialist allowing the gregarious man with the shoulder-length flowing white hair some latitude to shape his job as he envisions it.

He spends much of his time creating and performing programs for children his outreach often taking him to Yelm-area schools far and wide. When hes not performing for kids, hes often answering difficult questions as the Yelm branchs reference librarian.

Hes good at both, said his boss, Library Manager Erica McCaleb, who has been at the library for nine months.

Mike has a genuine desire to help others, and thats the core of his effectiveness, McCaleb, 30, said recently. Hes very personable and outgoing.

McGowan, who served on the Yelm City Council from 2006 to 2015 resigning his position when he moved out of the Yelm city limits to unincorporated Thurston County knew from the get-go that the library was his true destination.

I was halfway through my library interview when I realized that I really wanted this job, and not just the paycheck, said McGowan, who has a bachelors degree from the University of New York at Buffalo. I really enjoy the work, and its particularly satisfying because I probably get to see people at their best.

McGowan would undoubtedly include frequent library patrons Lanakila Washington and his husband Reginald Ross among them. The Yelm couple has known McGowan for six years.

Said Washington, 57: I really enjoy Mike because of his kindness and the fact that he always has a story to share.

Ross has similar feelings: His knowledge of the library is extensive, hes kind, he makes you laugh when you're feeling bad and most of all, I like his hair.

All of that including the distinctive locks undoubtedly amplify McGowans ability to mesmerize kids during his school outreach programs.

I really like going to the schools and doing outreach, McGowan said. It was like this is what I was made to do.

But it didnt come so easily in the beginning as McGowan painstakingly forced himself to learn on the fly. Little by little, though, he figured out the most effective ways to reach his young audiences.

My first library program was based off The Ed Sullivan Show, he recounted. I had skits and music acts all I would have needed was Topo Gigio, and it would have been complete.

From there, McGowan shifted to half-hour game show themes that kept his kids enthralled and interactive.

By this point it felt like I belonged here, and I knew what I was doing, he said. I think there was a hidden showman in me I didnt know was there until I did my first school program. I connected with the kids, and its what I do best.

But its often his more somber moments particularly in his role as the librarys reference guru that stick in his mind. Its not always pleasant.

Patrons may be going through situations with their families or need information about a medical diagnosis theyve been given, he said. You get connected to how people are feeling both good and bad, and if I can help them its satisfying for me.

The goal, McGowan said, is getting to the core of their issues and that takes persistence.

I look at myself as a guide who helps people find what they really need, he said. And that requires digging down beneath their initial questions and getting to the real answers.

Its always a two-way street, McGowan said.

Whatever action Im taking for patrons, theres an equal reaction Im receiving from them and its satisfying for me one way or the other.

Thats true for McGowan even after 25 years because nothing remains static.

The people, their questions and other needs change all the time and that keeps it fresh, he said. As in most situations, it always comes down in the end to the people. Ive learned over the years how to connect with people about what they want, but I wasn't able to do that when I started.

And though he loves his job, McGowan doesnt spend all of his time in the library.

He spends special time with his daughter and two granddaughters the joy of my life who live next door to him, and he still digs sports. You might see him playing basketball or stickball or tennis or even roller skating, but youre probably never going to see him prancing around second base at Yankee Stadium.

Unless, of course, you have ultra-weird sports dreams about men with long white hair.

Read more:
Yelm Librarian Has Been Helping Patrons Find What They Need for a Quarter Century - Nisqually Valley News