Of all the time I’ve spent outside of the U.S., most of that time has been in Mexico. From the first time I visited, I fell in love. I’ve spent most time traveling on my own but we decided to try an all-inclusive resort this year. And while I enjoyed it, it did not feel like the Mexico I love. The one day we left the resort and went into town, was great. And we were lucky enough to stumble on a public library!
A note about the election
I sent this note to the 400 Public Services staff at DCPL:
Election (go to your library!)
This was a hard week for many people I know and love. Not to say it wasn’t hard for me, but while I’m nervous about the future, I am very locally focused and I know I do everything I can do every day to serve my community. And that’s really all I can focus on right now.
Or, as David Kipen said this week in his LA Times editorial, “refuge-wise, libraries are the ultimate “third place,” the urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s “sanctuaries beyond the realms of home and work.” Nowadays, what with bring-your-dog-to-work days and bring-your-work-home jobs, home and work are becoming almost interchangeable. We need a third place more than ever, and libraries — with quiet courtyards and alcoves, or provocative public meetings and programs — increasingly offer that very place.”
Read the whole thing here: http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-ca-jc-kipen-essay-20161110-story.html
Frederick County Public Libraries

Opening of new DCPL branch
A little over 10 years ago, the District of Columbia made an incredible investment in the crumbling infrastructure of the DC Public Library. Since then, DCPL has built new or renovated 16 of the 26 locations. This week, we opened our 17th new library. The Woodridge branch is in NE DC and is on a stretch of street that really needs some new design and services. The old branch was demolished before I moved to DC so I never experienced the old building, but I’ve spent enough time in some of our older buildings to know what it was like. Due to some construction/soil issues, the project was delayed for over a year, so as you can imagine, excitement was very high at the grand opening this week.
We were lucky to have a lot of VIPs come to the opening. The D.C. Mayor (and her parents…she grew up in the area), two D.C. Councilmembers, the Deputy Mayor for Education, Executive Director of the Urban Libraries Council, Executive Director of the American Library Association Washington Office, and…..Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden! I thought only the library folks in the room would be excited to see her but even the Mayor was excited to welcome our first female, African American Librarian of Congress. Members of the community packed the mid-week ribbon cutting, which really tells me how excited people are for their new library.
I wasn’t involved in the design of this building, since it started before I moved to D.C. but I spend about 75% of my time in design/construction meetings for the other projects we’re working on and it was extremely gratifying to see how excited everyone was for the opening. I know it will make all of the hard work worth it.



Upcoming webinar
DC Public Library recently abolished all fines and fees for kids 19 and younger. If you’re interested in doing something like this at your library, join me for the Urban Libraries Council webinar Library Fees: To Forgive or Forget. I’ll be presenting along with San Jose Public Library Director, Jill Bourne. More information here.
Takoma, DC
DC Public Library
New job, new city
About five months ago I started a new job as Director of Public Services for DC Public Library. Lots of moving and change=not many posts. My apologies.
Occupy yourselves with pictures from an event at my library yesterday. Not the libraries of my youth, that’s for sure.