Hello, my name is Amanda Heller and I am the Branch Manager of the San Diego County Library-Casa de Oro Branch. Currently, I manage the overall operations at the branch, supervise staff, conduct outreach, as well as, plan and implement programming for all ages. I'm Co-Secretary of the Spring Valley Youth and Family Coalition and have networked with many individuals for programs and outreach opportunities. My first position with the county was as the Youth Services Librarian for the Fallbrook Branch Library. There we focused heavily on getting new people in the door and paid a lot of attention to our statistics.

I took, what I feel is a pretty unconventional route to librarianship. I didn't grow up using or supporting libraries. As a college senior in Iowa, I went to Washington, D.C., for a semester to intern at a museum. I ended up in the research library and decided after that experience that I wanted to pursue librarianship. I did my graduate work at Clarion University of Pennsylvania and then traveled across the country to work for the San Diego County Library after being recruited at the 2008 PLA Conference in Minneapolis.

I wanted to attend the Eureka! Leadership Institute because I feel like I have the education, but not exactly the experience to be an effective manager yet. I hope to come out more confident and determined.

My husband, Neil, and I enjoy going camping, visiting National Parks, and going to the beach. We are expecting our first child in January 2012 and I'm having fun sewing little baby clothes and preparing all our cloth diapers.

Yes, we're crazy!