Hi, my name is Brenda McIlroy and I am a Youth Services Librarian at Santa Cruz Public Library, the Downtown branch. I am lucky to have a wide variety of duties at the moment, providing reference, programming and services for young people and their families, conducting class visits, database instruction, collection development, book displays, and my favorite – a science table with fun activities. Plus, I regularly sub at UCSC’s Science and Engineering Library to get my science “fix”.

I haven’t always been a librarian, and I didn’t choose this route because of a love of books, but through an addiction to information. I started out working with animals, went into research, then taught agriculture at grad. school, after a spell in the bush in Australia. I gradually realized I enjoyed working with people, watching them develop and helping them towards self-fulfillment. I believe in life-long learning, and libraries are the richest resources, freely available to everyone.

Our library is undergoing radical changes, and I know that the Eureka! Institute will provide a strong, supportive, environment for me to develop the practical skills necessary to be a proactive member of our new system. I am hoping to construct something of lasting value for my community by the end of this year.

In my spare time I watch nature, enjoy arts and crafts, read (of course!) and travel whenever possible.