by Aashvi R., 15
Over Google Meet, things are bound to get lost in translation. Words and experiences may fall victim to frozen screens, delayed audio, and haphazardly muted mics. However, in my conversation with Nico Bellot — the administrative assistant at the Asbury Park Library — one thing was immediately apparent. Life is not linear, nor does it even choose to take a predictable form. People move through life much like the planets of our solar system: following their own course, at their own speed, and always held by the same central gravitational pull throughout every change. Throughout Bellot’s story, the forces that guided his life quickly emerge to anyone who listens.
Despite working in a library, much of Nico’s job doesn’t involve reading books at all. Although thanks to his upbringing with his grandfather, he holds a childhood fondness for it. Nico says, referring to reading, that “it’s not something most of us get to do at all.” Instead, he spends his day involved in a wide variety of activities — making it an ideal career for someone who, he admits, “gets bored easily”. On Monday, Bellot could manage finances and cover the front desk at the library. The next day, he could be doing outreach, presenting the programs the Asbury Park Library offers to facilities and shelters across New Jersey. While he’s always enjoyed reading, the idea of working in a library hadn’t crossed Nico’s mind until after the pandemic.
Studying sociology and English in college, Nico describes a completely non-linear path to where he is now. “It’s so crazy that you have to pick a career so young,” he says, remembering his own college application process. “The world changes so much…I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew what I was passionate about.” Grounded in his personal connection to service, Nico found himself working in nonprofits and food banks before joining the library.
After the pandemic, Bellot felt he was being pulled far from his own orbit. In fact, he recalls applying to the Asbury Park Library on a whim soon after the pandemic. “I don’t know why I never thought of a library,” Bellot confesses. “I’ve worked so many jobs…” Looking back, his grandfather — whom he had grown up with — had created a strong connection between Bellot and libraries long before he had considered working at one. “He was constantly coming home with books and telling me what he was learning…to me it’s always connected,” reminisces Bellot. He mentions that his favorite part of working at a library is talking about books. Bellot keeps the same value outside of his workplace as well, with reading serving as a creative outlet for him. Emphasizing the role his college studies played in influencing his interest, Bellot enjoys reading non-fiction books like Braid and Sweet Grass — a novel that explores the relationship between humans and nature through the lens of Indigenous wisdom and biology — that offer new perspectives. Now, Bellot enjoys that same love reflected through his work at the library, describing it as a career that “needs a love for learning.”
Alongside learning, Nico’s dedication to his community remains a strong constant in his life. At the Asbury Park Library, his ambition to learn and his love of service naturally intersect. Growing up Catholic, Nico developed a commitment to giving back that has stayed with him throughout his life. Describing his value for service, he says that “it’s not something I had to worry about while I was growing up. That’s a piece of giving back for sure. I think if you look at the news and the world, there’s always so much happening…I just look at my work and think that this is something tangible I can do.” Recalling his experience with community service, one event specifically stands out to Nico. While representing the library at an HIV facility, Nico addressed 122 people. He remarks that “five or six of them have already returned to the library”, explaining how his work has helped cement community members as library patrons.
Whether he’s covering the front desk at Asbury Park Library, doing an internship for a food bank, or reading a book like Are Prisons Obsolete by Angela Davis, Bellot continues to orbit the same values he’s held since childhood: service, compassion, and curiosity. “You got to work with life, you know. You have all these ideas, and life kind of just takes you with it.”
Bridge Ink 