James LaRue - myliblog

At the recent annual gathering of the Colorado Association of Libraries (CAL) in Breckenridge two of our people won awards. The Distinction in Library Services award went to Nancy Barnes, our Director of Branches. Nancy helped build the powerful and accomplished team that operates our six libraries. The Unsung Hero Award went to Jon Medrano, our Facilities Manager. Both of them are extraordinary people, the kind who just step in to help and are fun to hang out with (Jon, despite being Unsung, just released an original song I found on Spotify: “On A Wednesday”). Branch Managers Amaranda Fregoso and Ana Gaytan teamed up with Kim Owens, our HR Director, to present on the creation of a stipend for Spanish-speaking skills. A lot of other Colorado libraries are trying to crack the code: an intersection of community need and recruitment strategies. Our folks are ahead of the pack. Alex Garcia-Bernal spoke about our Danish-borne but hyper local program the Human Library. We’ve hosted it 3 time...

I’ve gone to a lot of library conferences over the course of my career. My favorite part is one of the staples: the awards ceremony. Very often, the awards call out the quiet work that has gone on in libraries for decades. The people drawn to library work are motivated by service. So we’ll see the volunteer who has run book sales for 35 years, contributing tens of thousands of dollars to library facilities. We’ll meet the staff member who introduced hundreds of children in her small town to the joys of storytimes. We’ll acknowledge the local business person who has sponsored important programs. These people are worthy of celebration. They didn’t expect recognition. But they made a difference in their communities. Sometimes, we need to hear from others just how important our work really was and is. The Colorado Association of Libraries (CAL) is one of the state “chapters” of the American Library Association. Mostly, its job is to provide professional training and advocate for the meanin...