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UPDATE: On May 13, Judge John J. McConnell Jr. issued a sweeping preliminary injunction blocking Trump administration officials from acting on the March 14 executive order to dismantle the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Furthermore, the court ordered the administration to immediately takes steps to restore the agency’s employees and grant funding activities.

Through her mobile outreach work with the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), adult librarian Amanda Mellor creates vital connections between LAPL and persons experiencing homelessness. It is essential to bring library resources and support directly to them, says Mellor, whose efforts focus on delivering compassionate and responsive services to adults in the city’s Skid Row community.

As Director of Donnelly Public Library (DPL), Sherry Scheline stewards a 1,024 square foot space that has become an anchor institution for Donnelly, ID—a town of fewer than 200 people, with a service population of just under 3,000.

Michelle Matthews, community and employee engagement director at Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library (CHPL), is an Air Force veteran. “As an intelligence specialist,” says Matthews, “I worked with a lot of data and information, but my most valuable piece of service was working with a diversity of people. That taught me to accept people for who they are and where they are”—a lesson she puts into work daily.

When Library Director Natalie Draper started at the Northfield Public Library, she discovered ideas for supporting the community through public engagement sessions. “Something we heard in the engagement that we put into our strategic plan was people needing to feel that sense of belonging in a space,” she says. “A library services community best when the staff reflect the diversity of their community.”

After a $14.9 million bond library expansion referendum failed, Lisa Kropp knew she also needed a way to keep staff morale up. She proposed that the library take on the Sustainable Libraries Initiative certification program, an idea enthusiastically accepted by staff and the library board. Lindenhurst became the third U.S. library to earn the certification. 

Unlike most of his peers, Jason Homer wasn’t a reader as a kid. It wasn’t until freshman year of college, when he hung out in his school library to get away from his triple dorm room, that he “got” libraries. “The more time I spent there, the better I utilized the resources,” he says. “The librarians were really helpful.” After a foray into classroom teaching, Homer realized it wasn’t for him. So, he followed in the footsteps of the librarians who were part of his early-adult memories. 

Thanks to Keloni Parks, a few other adults, and about 17 young library patrons who wrote the verses, the West End Branch of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library has its own anthem: “The Place I Want to Be.”

As director of Suffolk Public Library, Clint Rudy participated in Virginia Library Leadership Academy (VALLA) in 2012, became VALLA coordinator in 2018, and in 2022 led a task force to reimagine and revise the academy. The first task: create a team with “a broad spectrum of experiences in life and careers—members from academic, special, and public libraries and with contacts and networking experience.”

Edra Waterman was working in a community mental health center when she heard about Indiana University’s top-notch MLS program. “My job convinced me that I wanted to be in a field that helped people of all backgrounds and situations,” she recalls. “The ethos of the public library as a welcoming place for everyone clicked with me on a fundamental level.”

Court Stevens, executive director of Warren County Public Library, is a former adjunct professor, youth minister, and bookseller; runs a hobby farm (four dogs, 10 goats, 20-something chickens, and three babydoll sheep); and has written 10 novels. A thread of care, energy, and vision runs through these disparate roles. 

Starting off as a library assistant in circulation at Missoula Public Library (MPL), Selya Avila jumped at the chance to take on a new role that aligned with her values when MPL’s director created the Community Engagement Department. 

As the first bilingual Latine/Hispanic Northfield Public Library employee, Angelica Linder saw an opportunity to help with the local implementation of a new Municipal ID—an alternate form of legal identification that helps people with banking, work, and finding a place to live. She worked with city offices to provide a safe space in the library for those applying for the ID, as well as needed translation services. 

Kelli Rae Morning Bull’s lived experiences entwine with her initiatives at Calgary Public Library. “My Blackfoot culture is what drives my passion,” she says. “Sharing it with people can be very impactful.” Morning Bull builds relationships with Indigenous community groups and Elders and designs unique services for Indigenous and non-Indigenous patrons alike. 

The Hive® at Spokane Public Library is an artist’s dream come true—a nontraditional library location centered around arts education and free public event space, and home to four Artist- In-Residence studios, where a rotating group of creators work, teach, and inspire each other and the public. Its success is largely the work of Eva Silverstone, who believes that art in libraries is for everyone—“No admission ticket, no prerequisite, almost no dress code (within reason).” 

“When I was 13, I saw Pulp Fiction,” recalls Joe O’Brien. “Being part of that audience was like no experience I’d ever had. We were like instruments in an orchestra of adrenaline, gasping, laughing, or squirming together.” They knew then they wanted to tell stories for a living. 

“I’ve shaken hundreds of new immigrants’ hands to welcome them to become new citizens,” says Wang-Ying Glasgow, who hosts naturalization ceremonies at the library as one of her many duties leading adult, teen, and children’s programming for Memphis Public Libraries. The ceremonies are joyous affairs, with Glasgow, herself a naturalized citizen, bringing in Opera Memphis to perform the national anthem.

Libraries and education are a natural fit, and Arturo Agüero enhances educators’ connections to library resources and empowers them to teach in new ways. A founding member of the New York Public Library’s Center for Educators and Schools, in 2021 Agüero became the first Manager of Educator Development. 

Nick Tanzi knew early in his library career that he’d focus on technology. As the World Wide Web gained prominence in the ’90s, he spent much of his time teaching internet and computer basics. After he became a digital services librarian, he created a training curriculum for staff and patrons that became his first book, Making the Most of Digital Collections Through Training and Outreach (Libraries Unlimited). 

When Brent Trout began his tenure as manager of St. Louis County Library’s (SLCL) History and Genealogy Department in April 2022, the first task he was given involved moving 12,949 linear feet of books to four different locations while the department’s new, permanent home at the Emerson History and Genealogy Center in SLCL’s Clark Family Branch was under construction. For two years, the temporary workspace for the department’s staff was a quarter of its original size. But, coming from an early career in the museum field, Trout viewed this challenging transition to SLCL as a fortunate one. 

Aileen Ayala was a math kid and assumed she would go into market research—but she also grew up feeling the library was her “safety net,” and valued volunteer work. The data analyst role at Denver Public Library merges those interests and her degree in quantitative psychology, letting her dig into the “people impact” of library stats. 

In his role as senior emerging technologies librarian, Edwin Rodarte coauthored a multi-million-dollar grant application netting the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) 7,000 laptop and hotspot bundles to lend to patrons as part of the library’s Tech2go initiative. He coordinates and supports programs including the 73-branch system’s Tech TryOut Carts, Tech Kiosks, and new Library of Things Program—offering patrons access to equipment ranging from GoPro cameras to car diagnostic toolkits—as well as LAPL’s Cybernaut program, where digital navigators offer one-on-one help to patrons with technology needs.

Do you know what an occupant-propelled land vehicle is? Or a horological device with avian features? Jen Byrnes, Head of Business Insight Center/ Digital Equity Initiative at Rochester Public Library, NY, does: They’re the patent terms for a bicycle and a cuckoo clock, respectively. Among myriad other services, she and her team conduct patent searches for local businesses, which involve using specialist language.

“I thrive on progress,” says Dr. Jennifer Brown. “If I see a problem, I want to fix it.” Brown’s go-getter attitude has earned her such honors as Virginia Library Association 2019 Librarian of the Year and makes her “a partner and collaborator of choice for projects and initiatives,” according to nominator Clint Rudy. 

Public libraries that are experiencing long wait times to get new books delivered from their book suppliers are often hesitant to look for other fulfillment options, because the technical services onboarding process for new vendors can be complex and unwieldy. But that isn’t always the case.

Los Angeles is a sprawling city with a range of geographic, economic, and social variables, and the wildfires that affected the Los Angeles metropolitan area in January were a demonstration of that diversity, with the area’s three main library systems—Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), LA County Library, and Altadena Library District—impacted by the fires to very different degrees.

Last year, John Wilkin shared his essay Lyrasis in a Landscape of Radical Interdependence where he discussed the interdependence of libraries, archives and museums, and how Lyrasis is uniquely positioned to provide the connective tissue between them.

Providing opportunities for high-quality adult education aligns with the mission of libraries to serve their communities’ educational, personal enrichment, and career development needs. Now, a new service from Gale helps libraries do this in a highly effective way. 

Jennie Pu, director of Hoboken Public Library (HPL), NJ, has announced her run for New Jersey’s 32nd Legislative District Assembly. Pu, who has led HPL since 2021, would be the first librarian to run for state office in New Jersey (joining librarians Kathy Zappitello, who ran for Ohio state representative in 2022, and Rebekah Cummings, who ran for Lieutenant Governor of Utah in 2024). If elected, Pu will be the first Chinese American lawmaker in the state’s history and the first Asian American woman to represent Hudson County.

Artificial intelligence is not a solution—it’s a tech tool that is only useful when it actually solves problems for learners and librarians. AI is everywhere you look today, from the big three search engines to the local library. 

Strong mutual support among community partners, and a conscious shift over the past decade to investigate what each of its neighborhoods needs most, and then step up to those needs, has earned St. Louis County Library the 2024–25 Jerry Kline Community Impact Prize.

Garland County Library, AR; North Bergen Free Public Library, NJ; and Queens Public Library, NY, demonstrate the resourceful programming, robust partnerships, and care for their communities that has earned them Honorable Mention for the 2020 Jerry Kline Community Impact Prize.

Philanthropic foundation Carnegie Corporation of New York on December 9 announced a new $5 million pool of grant funding available for public libraries nationwide. The new initiative—Libraries as Pillars of Education and Democracy—“will help public libraries deliver critical services that promote socioeconomic mobility, civic participation, and social belonging,” according to an announcement. The $5 million will be awarded to 10 to 15 library systems in regions serving 500,000 people or more, with each system receiving up to $500,000 in funding over 24 months.

Library vendors have announced several new products, partnerships, and programs during the past two months. Here’s a sampling of recent news. 

Modern libraries aren’t just places for reading and research. They’re vibrant and active community centers where the people and programming play just as critical a role as the collections.

As artificial intelligence becomes more embedded in work, creative pursuits, and the generation of online misinformation, public libraries have a major new role to play in digital literacy.

While Texas continues to be a leading state in the number of book bans reported each year, a recent challenge at the Montgomery County Memorial Library has been reversed. The Texas Freedom to Read Project reported that a children’s book, Colonization and the Wampanoag Story by Linda Coombs (Aquinnah Wampanoag)—an account of American colonization and Native traditions described from an Indigenous perspective—was challenged in September and subsequently moved out of the juvenile nonfiction area to the fiction collection.

The data for new public library buildings and renovations featured in LJ's Year in Architecture 2024.

Keeping up with the constantly changing technological and information landscape has presented a major challenge to the field of library science. Here are some of the leading library and information science (MLIS) master’s degree programs that are stepping up to meet these challenges.

Wilmington Public Library enlists community input alongside vibrant in-house marketing to build excitement around innovative events. San José Public Library, CA, and Worcester Public Library, MA, received honorable mentions.

For the past four years, EveryLibrary has been working to fight the book-banning movement. A large part of that fight is developing effective messaging against book bans, as well as conducting extensive message testing, surveys, and focus groups to understand the impact of messaging and determine which messages perform best.

Two and a half years after launch, Books Unbanned has continued to grow as a vital resource for people in schools and communities where book challenges otherwise put content out of reach.

These are only a few of the wide-ranging limited edition library card iterations popping up seemingly everywhere. Why are all these libraries putting time and resources into small-run cards?

For the work it has done to create a robust community hub through responsive services and strong partnerships, the Mendocino County Library Round Valley Branch, CA, is the recipient of LJ’s 2024 Best Small Library in America Award, sponsored by Ingram Library Services. Honorable mentions go to Northfield Public Library, MN, and Valley of the Tetons Library, ID.

The Seattle Public Library (SPL) is continuing to recover from a ransomware attack on Saturday, May 25. At press time, all branches were open, in-person and virtual programs and events were still being hosted, books and other physical materials were available for checkout, and online services provided by third-party vendors including ProQuest, Hoopla, Kanopy, and others were available to patrons. However, access to SPL’s ebooks and e-audiobooks, public computers, in-building Wi-Fi, printing and copying services, pickup lockers, museum pass services, interlibrary loan services, and some other online resources remained unavailable.

In celebration of National Bike Month (May in the United States, June in Canada), libraries are offering innovative ways to support bicycling all year round.

Those outside our field may marvel at—or be disconcerted by—transformations they experience as new, seismic shifts from what they understand about libraries. We know the transformation is far from sudden, and far from over. Understanding this, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is using best practices and key research to better understand and equip libraries with the tools needed to address the future needs of the diverse communities they serve.

This section highlights some of the leading MLIS programs that are training the next generation of library and information science professionals to rise to today’s—and tomorrow’s— challenges, including those whose alumni have been honored by Library Journal as Movers & Shakers.

On April 25, the Peabody Awards revealed the list of 68 nominations for 2023, chosen from a field of 1,100 entries. This year’s contenders include popular TV series such as The Bear, Bluey, and Reservation Dogs, documentaries about Judy Blume and Little Richard, children’s programming, newscasts—and two offerings from public libraries: Milwaukee Public Library’s social media streams in the interactive and immersive media category, and Borrowed and Banned, a 10-episode podcast from Brooklyn Public Library in the podcast/radio category.

As a reference manager for St. Louis County Library (SLCL), Phifer-Davis takes a proactive approach to outreach and programming. Under her watch, SLCL’s Reference by Mail for incarcerated individuals has grown from responding to fewer than 500 letters to about 2,600 in 2022.

Phil Shapiro is an enthusiastic champion of digital inclusion and outside-of-school learning, assisting youth and adults with public Linux computers at the Takoma Park Maryland Library (TPML) and singing the praises of open-source software through his YouTube channel.

Guided by the strategic goal to support local community needs with reflective services throughout the Santa Clara County Library District, Library Services Manager Clare Varesio spearheaded systemwide efforts to educate both library workers and the greater community on responses to the opioid overdose epidemic and mental health.

Isaiah West, who taught seventh-grade English before becoming a librarian, has a passion for working with young people. “Teens get a bad rap,” he says. “They can be moody, apathetic, chaotic, and more, but they are also authentic, inspiring, and funny.… They give me hope that society might have hope for a brighter and longer future.”

When Rebecca Wolfe noticed groups of adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) come to her library, she saw an opportunity to make their library time more meaningful and engaging. She founded the monthly All Abilities Club, which offers crafts, games, literacy activities, music, and guest speakers to adults with IDD and caregivers.

In 2023, Archibald’s work on two different projects generated enormous impact for the library and demonstrated that effective graphic design can make a difference in library programming.

Amber Gagliardi’s passion for gardening started as a child when she helped her grandfather plant seeds. She dreamed of starting a seed library at Middle Country Public Library for years before launching one in 2018 with 15 varieties of vegetable, herb, and flower seeds.

Marlon Moore isn’t one to sit back and wait for patrons to ask for assistance. Instead, he focuses on creating opportunities—and his contributions have earned the Miami-Dade Public Library System eight National Association of Counties Awards from 2013 to 2023 for unique and impactful programs.

Tara Somersall’s creativity serving children of all ages has made Yonkers Public Library a community leader in meeting kids’ needs and preparing them for a lifetime of reading.

When Alex Vancina joined the Helen Plum Library administration in 2017, plans to build a new $30 million facility had been put on hold—Vancina used the temporary setback as an opportunity to initiate a total revamp of the library’s IT and technical services departments.

Josselyn Atahualpa oversees adult education courses in literacy, English as a Second Language, and GED preparation. When she noticed a wave of asylum seekers coming to the library in early 2022, Atahaulpa alerted library leadership and pushed QPL to prioritize training on best practices for serving the community.

Meredith Crawford, Community Engagement Librarian with the Cedar Rapids Public Library, launched the Be Heard program at a local youth detention center with the goal of reducing recidivism by engaging students with literature and art.

LaShawn Myles had not worked specifically with the disability community when she joined the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Print Disabled in 2018. Her work as an educator led her to libraries, where she quickly became a champion for visually impaired patrons, advocating for resources and finding ways to make materials more accessible.

Mychal Threets, whose earnest TikTok videos have logged millions of views, started out sharing stories that epitomized what he calls “library joy” to inspire people to visit their library. He ended up capturing hearts across social media.

Monnee Tong’s career has been shaped by her passion for social justice, which carries through to her work as supervising librarian at San Diego Public Library.

Visser's work on E-Rate policy and technology equity has been a game-changer for communities across the country, including in tribal libraries, where she helped improve access to broadband.

Jensen, a librarian by trade, worked in a public library for several years before joining the Book Riot team in 2013, where she developed her passion about the right to read and access to books.

After working in school, academic, and museum libraries, Jennie Pu landed her first public library job as Hoboken Public Library (HPL) director two and a half years ago, and has already made her mark as a champion of intellectual freedom.

Huda Shaltry carries a copy of the U.S. Constitution in her purse. Referring to the First Amendment comes in handy when the Boise librarian meets with members of the Idaho Legislature in her role as Legislative Chair of the Idaho Library Association.

As a native Memphian, Kim Jordan-Fluker has unwavering affection for her hometown. As Regional Manager for LINC/2-1-1, Memphis Public Libraries’ social service department, Jordan-Fluker’s team is the driving force in connecting the city’s most vulnerable residents with resources they often don’t know exist, let alone how to access. 

When Texas governor Greg Abbott began busing migrants from the southern U.S. border into New York City in 2022, Steven Mahoney at New York Public Library (NYPL) began visiting migrant shelters to provide on-site English class demonstrations and facilitate library card sign-ups. He discovered that many migrants lacked the necessary language skills or living stability to join NYPL’s existing core language program. So he launched a pilot program specifically for asylum seekers, increasing their learning through weekly English classes.

Becoming a library trustee wasn’t on Becky Keane’s radar until a neighbor gave her an earful about the shortcomings of her local board. Intrigued, Keane sought—and secured—appointment to the library board in fall 2019.

Working in libraries, Matthew Landon found himself drawn to the sensitive emotional landscape of local youth. He became certified as a Youth Mental Health First Aid Provider, then dove into changing the conversation around mental health. 

When Elizabeth Muñoz-Rosas was presented with the opportunity to bring a traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibit on Dolores Huerta, a leading activist in the 1960s and ’70s farm workers movement, to her community with a nearly 60 percent Latinx population, she jumped at the chance.  

Rather than outreach, Lissa Staley focuses on “inreach,” inviting local agencies into the library to assist patrons with mental health screenings, Medicaid and health insurance information, FAFSA applications, workforce support, family legal and emergency aid, GED classes, and small business mentoring. 

Because older adults—who constitute 15 percent of the American population, projected to reach over 20 percent by 2030—are often overlooked in regular library programming, Jessica Young intentionally advocates for their inclusion at Yorba Linda Public Library. She mentors new librarians to do the same. 

For Siva Ramakrishnan, being director of Young Adult Programs and Services for New York Public Library (NYPL)—part of NYPL’s Tisch Youth Education Programs—means giving teenagers the resources they need to grow, whether that involves 3-D printers or a sense of community.

Budgets grew across all areas in 2023, and while it’s too early to predict what those gains bode, the upward trend is largely encouraging.

Most library measures passed in 2023, but the year also saw confusingly worded ballots and little new funding.

On January 30, in response to pressure from Gov. Kay Ivey, the Alabama Public Library Service—the agency that advises and administers funds to the state’s 220 public libraries—announced its official decision not to renew its membership with the American Library Association (ALA). But advocates are urged to look beyond the controversy over ALA to the larger issues in play, notably the growing influence that the state’s elected officials have on library freedoms.

The Kansas City Public Library (KCPL) and San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) last Thursday announced that they would team up on a Tackle Censorship campaign with a friendly wager on the game. As a result of Kansas City's 25–22 win last night, a library representative from SFPL will wear Kansas City gear and post a recording of themselves reading from a banned book on the library’s social media channels.

When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officially declared an end to the COVID-19 public health emergency in May 2023, many libraries reported a transition back to what felt like pre-pandemic days, with children joyfully attending story times and crowds reconvening to hear their favorite authors. Yet, just as we breathed a collective sigh of relief at the formal end of one emergency, United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a new advisory warning of a pernicious health risk: loneliness.

A project to record the memories of residents in King County, WA—particularly Asian Americans displaced during World War II—is set to begin soon. King County Library System was awarded an $800,000 Mellon Foundation grant that will be used to hire a staffer to oversee a project that will create memory labs at two different locations.

Design Institute Hayward looked at ways to design for inclusion, safety, sustainability, and extending a warm invitation to all.

At LJ’s 2023 Design Institute in Hayward, CA, held at the Hayward Public Library on September 28, five libraries in California and New Mexico enlisted architects and attendees to brainstorm on upcoming library design challenges.

When Patty Hector, former director of the Saline County Library in Benton, AR, was fired on October 9, it didn’t come as a surprise. A decision to shift control of the library from its board to county officials, driven primarily by Hector’s refusal to comply with a resolution to move certain books containing content about racism, LGBTQIA+ subjects, and sexual activity from areas where anyone under the age of 18 could access them, was proposed in April and passed in August. What may surprise some, however, is that Hector has thrown her hat in the ring for a spot on the Saline County Quorum Court, the same body that had her terminated.

Recent announcements from Project MUSE, Clarivate, and other vendors, as well as Cornell's arXiv, the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University, and more.

Centering genuine relationships, along with an emphasis on community service and creative partnerships, has earned Kent District Library, MI, the 2023 Jerry Kline Community Impact Prize. Honorable mentions go to Henrico County Public Library, VA, and Kenosha Public Library, WI.

In 2019, Kent District Library’s human resources department (HR) set out to strengthen its approach to staffing the organization. Our goals were to create greater equity in the selection process through reduction of implicit bias; improve the viability of candidates through competency testing; and ensure the quality of hires to help reduce first-year turnover, improve the diversity of the workforce, and ensure their competency on the job.

The data for new public library buildings and renovations featured in LJ's Year in Architecture 2023.

Faced with a major post-lockdown attendance drop, the marketing team at Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Free Library is re-engaging patrons with creative, data-driven campaigns. Patchogue Medford Library, NY, received honorable mention.

Library telehealth programs launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are beginning to evolve and adapt to changing times.

All eyes are on Texas as HB 900, the state’s controversial new book rating law, is slated to take effect September 1, 2023. Signed by Governor Greg Abbott on June 12, the legislation aims to prevent the sale of books deemed “sexually explicit” or “sexually relevant” to school districts by requiring book publishers and vendors to rate individual titles based on content.

Libraries are constantly becoming more versatile when it comes to offering patrons a broad spectrum of services. They have made extra efforts in delivering high-quality customer service to suit a new generation of library users.

In the Southern California community of Huntington Beach, days before sharp budget cuts to the Huntington Beach Public Library (HBPL) were proposed—and then walked back—battle lines were drawn over a proposal to screen public library materials for what some deem sexually explicit or age-inappropriate content, and possibly limit access to those materials. The challenge, however, did not originate with an anonymous patron or member of a right-wing group, but with the city’s Mayor Pro Tem Gracey Van Der Mark.

The Georgia Public Library Service (GPLS) has distributed more than 7,000 Chromebooks and 2,800 Launchpad tablets to libraries throughout the state with the help of $2.3 million provided by the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) fund via the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

Demand for educational video resources continues to grow.  Apps including Craft & Hobby, Creativebug, and Hiveclass, as well as streaming DIY video from OverDrive and hoopla, are helping patrons learn how to do everything from sewing to pickleball.

The Mamaroneck Public Library, NY, has been hit with a budget shortfall of an estimated $1.4 million, Director Jennifer O’Neill told LJ. For years, the library has used cash reserves to balance its annual spending plans. But in January, the monthly report submitted by MPL’s longtime business manager unexpectedly showed almost no money in that fund to draw on.

Alicia Deal and KayCee Choi nominated each other for the same reason—their advocacy for d/Deaf (Hard of Hearing/Deaf) culture. The two have spearheaded Dallas Public Library programming for National Deaf History Month in April; Deal and Choi created programs about major league baseball player William Hoy and author and activist Helen Keller, among others, which drew about 100 patrons total.

As chair of the Meridian Library District (MLD) Board of Trustees, Megan Larsen passionately defends the right to read. Like many libraries around the country, MLD faces attacks from a vocal minority seeking to restrict access to titles featuring diverse content, and recently, a group filed a petition attempting to dissolve the district. “Sometimes, the fight comes to you, like it or not,” Larsen says.

As senior librarian at San José Public Library, Lizzie Nolan manages programs, collections, and outreach for both the Children’s Room and teen space known as TeenHQ and has executed and evaluated yearlong literacy programs for the entire 26-branch system. In 2021, Nolan was tasked with leading San José’s Youth Commission, the official youth advisory group to the mayor and city council.