Hello everyone! My name is Yemila Alvarez and I am the Program Manager for the International Center at the San Francisco Public Library. I supervise staff, perform outreach, work the reference desk, and oversee all material acquisitions for the Center, which includes books, magazines, newspapers, electronic resources and media in 40+ languages. We also house two focus collections which are ESL and Citizenship related. I am currently serving on various committees and task forces within our library system to improve services to our public, including Diversity in Programming, Technology Experience, eCollections, and other groups aimed at reaching the people we serve. I am an active member of various professional organizations, including Bibliotecas Para la Gente, the northern California chapter of REFORMA, and am currently coordinating their Spanish language book fair which I will shamelessly plug now: February 8, 2013 @ Main Library San Francisco. Save the date and tell your friends!

Prior to coming to SFPL (which happened in November 2012), I worked as a Library Specialist for the Alameda Free Library (NorCal), a Children’s Services Librarian for the Fullerton Public Library (SoCal), and a Librarian Assistant at the Yorba Linda Public Library (SoCal). I hold a MLIS in Academic Libraries from San Jose State University, but have never worked in an academic library. I also hold two Bachelor’s degrees and 7/8 of a Master’s degree in Music, neither of which I use enough. I find this either amusing or depressing, depending on the day.

My interest in Eureka stems from a desire to resolve some of the issues affecting our immediate library community and to leverage the knowledge of other California library leaders to accomplish this. Making new friends, establishing new partnerships, and becoming a better librarian will be added bonuses!

In my spare time, you might find me sitting on a BART train, incessantly checking email and social networking sites on my phone, or eating at the nearest local Indian buffet, or singing karaoke by myself in my living room while my husband tries desperately to suggest watching NASCAR instead, or sleeping. I prefer the latter of the four.