EXPERIENCE

Santa Barbara Public Library, Santa Barbara, CA | 2016 — present

Santa Barbara Public Library serves the greater Santa Barbara area with service population of 110,000. The library has gone through major institutional changes in the last few years, adopting a new service model and dramatically increasing the number of programs and the extent of outreach.

 Library Services Manager, Public Services | November 2019 — present 

• • Supervise the Collection Management division, Outreach and Branches division, Youth Services Division, Reference and Information Services Division, Adult Education division, and Marketing & Communications division
  • Prepare reports and presentations for Library Board and City Council
  • Initiative and develop strategic partnerships with community organizations, support groups, and other government agencies and departments
  • Oversee staff training and development

FY2023 Notable Accomplishments

• • • Expanded English as a Second Language and Family Literacy programs with series of classes for adults and families
    • Implemented a grant-funded paid teen intern program, offering high school students paid employment in the library as well as the opportunity to participate in social-emotional learning and career exploration workshops and training
    • Ensured continuity of Library operations during a $10 million construction with three active projects despite repeated delays and challenges
    • Implemented a grant-funded Book to Action program highlighting homelessness and housing challenges locally, with dozens of programs and workshops

FY 2022 Notable Accomplishments

• • • Served on a Statewide committee developing training for Libraries on building equity-based Summer Reading and Learning programs
    • Oversaw the implementation of the NEA Big Read grant for Santa Barbara Reads programming, featuring Joy Harjo’s An American Sunrise, including coordinating with author, publisher, and a local press to translate selected poems into Spanish and publish a special edition to make book and related programming accessible to Spanish-speaking audiences
    • Updated Collection Development Policy and developed collection maintenance plan with deacquisition standards by collection
    • Expanded grant-funded Stay and Play program to partner sites, Carpinteria, and Montecito Libraries
    • Developed a long-term plan for assessing community needs and outcomes of Spanish-language programs, services, outreach, and communications, including collaborating with Human Resources and the City Administrator’s Office to reclassify and create a new position of Spanish Public Education Outreach Coordinator
    • Implemented a digitization plan to preserve and increase access to local history archives currently available on microfilm
    • Developed partnerships to begin a collection of circulating passes to museums and local cultural institutions
    • Transitioned to a new locally administered integrated library system and transitioned to a new collection code and shelf location schema to produce more accurate statistics and better describe locations of physical collections
    • Completed an Eastside Neighborhood needs assessment of Eastside Library’s programs, services, and open hours schedule
    • Launched a grant-funded Community Connections program, expanding the Library’s capacity to offer social services navigation and information referrals to patrons, collaborating with partner organizations to work toward collective impact on issues of homelessness, and coordinating service delivery at Neighborhood Navigation Centers
    • Developed Book to Action programming, highlighting sustainability programming and local initiatives and the local author “un-textbook” Island Visions
    • Completed an extensive website re-design and migration to a new platform; developed new translation guidelines, style guide, and web content strategies
    • Developed internal brand guidelines and cohesive branding elements for Library programming, services, and collections that reflect SBPL’s mission

FY 2021 Notable Accomplishments 

• • • Lead implementation of alternative service models to continue to maintain the safety of staff and the public while providing access to Library services, programs, and collections during the pandemic
    • Launched the custom-designed Library on the Go sprinter van, funded by private donations and California State Library grants, to deliver Library programs, services, and collections to the community outside the Library’s walls
    • Completed three community input surveys to understand priorities and needs for Library Services during the pandemic
    • Pivoted the implementation of a $250,000 grant to expand Stay and Play early literacy and caregiver support program during pandemic
    • Successfully advocated for funding for a special project to fund a contracted social services worker to support vulnerable patrons, and particularly those experiencing homelessness

FY2020 Notable Accomplishments 

• • • Launched the Student Success Card Initiative, partnering with Santa Barbara Unified School District to enable students to automatically receive a public library card upon enrollment, granting access to SBPL’s digital resources and the ability to check out physical materials from the Library’s collections
    • Partnered with the Santa Barbara Indendepent to launch a Community Book Club and pop-up events celebrating reading, reviewing books in the local newspaper, and creating a community of readers that transitioned online during the pandemic
    • Developed and implemented programming in collaboration with community organizations to activate the #TinyLibrariesonStateStreet art installations
    • Participated in the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program, implementing a year-long series of space, astronomy, amateur radio, and STEAM-related programming culminating in building a radio tower on the roof of the library to have a public contact with the International Space Station
    • As part of a cohort of 5 California Libraries, developed an innovative new early literacy class format targetting friends, family, and neighbor caregivers called Stay and Play, and participated in the formal evaluation of the new class
    • Launched OG Readers, a new tutoring program for struggling readers in the 1st-4th grades that trains volunteers in the Orton-Gillingham Approach, a phonics-based model for reading instruction

Acting Library Services Manager | November 2018 — November 2019

• • Oversaw the library’s day-to-day operations and ensure consistency in the level of service throughout the system
  • Ensure dSBPL marketing and branding is adhered to throughout the system
  • Coordinated staff training and professional development
  • Managed collection, hourly staff, and programming budgets
  • Supervised the Technology and Technical Services division and Youth Services division
  • Developed a proposal to eliminate fines for overdue materials approved by City Council and adopted in the FY20 budget

Senior Librarian for Youth Services, Programming, and Marketing | April 2017 — November 2018

• • Supervised a team paraprofessional staff and librarians
  • Developed comprehensive staff training and evaluation process for early literacy classes, and expanded offerings to reach over 1300 monthly attendees, doubling the regular attendance
  • Developed comprehensive staff training for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math programming for school outreach, after-school programming, and programming in the Library including Coding Club, robotics, and more
  • Established and expanded teen programming, increasing attendance by 150%
  • Develop and launch Makerspace programming for all ages
  • Wrote and received grant funds for expansion of Bilingual Books collection, Mental Health in Libraries programming, Makerspace programming, Google Ready to Code grant, and NEA Big Read Grant
  • Cultivated community partnerships with a variety of non-profit, government agencies, schools, and community groups in order to avoid duplication of services and to enhance library programs and initiatives

Programming and Marketing Librarian | July 2016 — April 2017

• • Provided readers’ advisory and reference services to patrons of all ages
  • Developed and facilitated programs (children’s teen, adult); conducted community outreach
  • Managed the library’s social media presence
  • Lead the marketing team on promoting the library’s services, collections, and programs
  • Conducted staff training with a focus on readers’ advisory and program implementation
  • Selected adult fiction, teen fiction and nonfiction, and graphic novels
  • Successfully wrote several grants, which funded teen interns to design a new teen space in the library and funded materials for a new van that will allow the library to provide education in the community at sites outside of the library
  • Coordinated the library’s implementation of Harwood Institute philosophy of community engagement

 

 

 

Lawrence Public Library, Lawrence, KS  | 2012 — 2016

Lawrence Public Library serves the college town of Lawrence, KS, and its 90,000 residents. The Library underwent a major renovation and expansion and celebrated the opening of the new facility in 2014. The Library is a beloved community center with close collaborations on initiatives with local nonprofits, businesses, university departments, and community organizations.

 

Collection Development Librarian | October 2013 — July 2016

• • Selected print and digital materials for the young adult fiction and nonfiction collections, graphic novels for teens and adults, and all media, including music CDs, television and film, and nonfiction DVD collections
  • Maintained the circulating e-reader collection
  • Monitored high-demand fiction and nonfiction for adult, teen, and youth collections
  • Assisted patrons with readers’ advisory and reference inquiries
  • Managed the library’s social media accounts, including Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Instagram
  • Continued to perform duties of previous position

Young Adult Library Assistant | March 2012 — October 2013

• • Assisted patrons with readers’ advisory and reference inquiries
  • Developed and facilitated youth and adult programs including teen book club, National Novel Writing Month workshops, and Teen Read Week programs funded by a YALSA/Dollar General Literacy Foundation grant
  • Developed readers’ advisory materials and book displays
  • Produced content for the main library and teen-specific social media accounts, including Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Pinterest
  • Wrote web content, including maintaining the events calendar and writing blog posts

 

EDUCATION

Master of Library Science | Emporia State University, Emporia, KS | 2016
Concentration in Librarianship for Children and Young Adults

Post-graduate Coursework in Latin American Studies | University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS | 2007

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Studies, with honors | University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS | 2006