CURRENT POSITION Reference Manager, St. Louis County Library, MO DEGREE MLIS, Simmons University, 2018 FOLLOW linkedin.com/in/mphiferdavis; goodreads.com/user/show/35768934-megan-phifer Photo by Michael A. Foley

"Bigger Than Just Us"

In 2011, when Megan Phifer-Davis was in college and working as a page at the St. Charles City-County Library, a patron would sit and knit by the branch’s fireplace. Over a few weeks that year, a knitting circle spontaneously formed around her. “I started understanding that libraries could be community centers where people can find their people,” Phifer-Davis says.

As a reference manager for St. Louis County Library (SLCL), Phifer-Davis takes a more proactive approach to outreach and programming. She creatively rebranded database demos by offering programs on fun topics such as Little & Big Escapes: Camping & Hiking in Missouri. She partnered with the St. Louis Public Library to expand the reach and vision of SLCL’s annual Small Business and Nonprofit Conference—last year, more than 630 people attended the three-day show. Among many other programs, she created the Approaching the Job Search after 55 series for SLCL.

But Phifer-Davis is perhaps having the biggest impact on justice-related services. 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. In collaboration with SLCL Adult Services and local free legal assistance provider Tap-In Center, she helped create the Re-entry Resource Fair, designed to help formerly incarcerated individuals with needs including food assistance, mental health, employment, housing, and more. And her Small Business Launchpad is an in-depth, months-long program involving partnerships with local and national organizations—including Grow with Google, Great Southern Bank, and financial planning company Justine Petersen—designed to help formerly incarcerated individuals interested in entrepreneurship.

“My biggest want for the program was that they could come to us—we are their network—but…we’re bigger than just us,” says Phifer-Davis.