Youth Services Librarian with Teen Focus - Pueblo City-County Library District - Pueblo, CO
(2020-04 - 2025-07)
- Spearheaded the development and implementation of monthly teen programming across seven library branches, enhancing community engagement through fun and educational activities
- Managed the teen collection and curated timely, rotating displays, increasing collection visibility while promoting diverse books that reflect the community
- Established the Teen Advisory Board by fostering relationships with teens at the home library, empowering them to have a more substantive voice
- Delivered comprehensive information literacy instruction in research and database usage to high school students in Pueblo
- Participated in teacher professional development days to educate staff about ConnectEd, a program providing all public school students access to library resources via their student IDs, while offering assistance in transferring this knowledge to their students
- Collaborated with the library's Community Relations team to effectively market programs
- Coordinated with a dedicated group of community partners to execute "Youth Kickback," a monthly event focused on mental health and suicide prevention for teens in Pueblo
- Teamed with the Youth Services Department to prepare the annual Summer Reading Program. Reimagined teen/tween "game boards" and developed grand prizes to incentivize participation. Appeared as Bluey and Pete the Cat for storytimes, demonstrating a willingness to embrace silliness, and at times delivered storytimes and managed tween programs
- Partnered with the Boys & Girls Club to facilitate a reading group featuring Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam's Punching the Air
- Maintained current knowledge of literature, media available for teens, library trends, and trends in teen culture through the review of publications and blogs, as well as engaging directly with teens
- Staffed public service desk (adult, teen, and children's), providing assistance to patrons in need of information, computer support, de-escalation, and more
- Coordinated the teen volunteer program
Library Assistant - William Jeanes Memorial Library - Lafayette Hill, PA
(2019-03 - 2020-02)
- Provided readers' advisory services to children, driven by my enthusiasm as the only assistant excited to shelf-read picture books
- Executed the library's double check-in process manually due to the lack of automatic check-in technology and shelved materials appropriately
- Assisted the Teen Librarian in organizing monthly programs tailored for teens with disabilities
- Established rapport with numerous teen participants, aiding them in discovering activities aligned with their interests.
Library Intern - Millvale Community Library - Millvale, PA
(2018-06 - 2018-09)
- Planned and facilitated "Girls Code Club," focusing on teaching girls ages 7-13 how to code using Scratch; conducted storytime sessions for babies and toddlers; engaged with energetic tweens; organized and executed various teen programs; staffed the circulation desk; assisted in the preparation and management of a new tool library.
Library Assistant via Pitt Partners - Scott Township Public Library - Scott Township, PA
(2017-09 - 2018-06)
- Organized and led reading groups; supported users with both technical inquiries and circulation-related questions; retrieved and shelved holds; processed hold requests and dispatched returns to their appropriate library district locations; issued library cards; reconciled cash balances at closing.
Volunteer - Treehouse Books - North Philadelphia, PA
(2017-01 - 2017-07)
Contributed to Treehouse Books, a free bookstore serving the economically disadvantaged neighborhood of North Philadelphia, during a period when there was no local public library and school libraries had been closed.
- Initiated weekly bicycle deliveries of books to children in North Philadelphia who signed up for the program.
- Later, assisted in managing the children's area, making decisions regarding which donated books to shelve and which to redirect
- Oversaw the "check-out" process (the organization operates more like a free bookshop, but refers to its collection as a library).
Writing Instructor - University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, PA
(2004-07 - 2005-01)
- Designed the syllabus and curriculum for the seminar "'Fess Up: Sins, Secrets, and Fictional Selves," which explored the literary and legal discourses of confession, with additional emphasis on contemporary practices of interrogation and torture.
- Facilitated discussion classes twice weekly.
- Critically evaluated and provided feedback on student writing.
Teaching Assistant - University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, PA
(2003-08 - 2004-05)
- Taught weekly recitation sections for large lecture courses, offered one-on-one meetings with learners to discuss their progress and difficulties. Courses included "Jane Austen and Adaptation" and "18th Century Poetry."
