2009 Eureka! Leadership Institute: Gail McPartland

Over the past 30 years Gail worked in just about every aspect of library service. Her library apprenticeship began as a student assistant in the USC cataloging department in 1980 and continued through library assistant positions with duties in cataloging, acquisitions, circulation, and reference assistance. After earning a BA in English Literature from Cal State L.A. and an MLS in Library Science from UCLA. Gail embarked on a lifelong career as a medical librarian that lasted all of one year. During that year at Cedars Sinai Medical Center Gail served as a reference librarian with an emphasis in online searching. During this time she created and taught one of the first Internet classes offered by a special library.

This Internet course led to a brief stint as Training Director for InterNIC Information Services which led to the position of Electronic Resources Supervisor for the Redwood City Public Library which led to the position of Technology Director for the Peninsula Library System which led to a promotion to Assistant Director, Services for the four cooperative systems in the Bay Area (Peninsula, Bay Area, Silicon Valley and Monterey Bay Area Cooperative Library Systems).

Sample tasks in these positions included staff training, installation and maintenance of computer workstations, maintenance and migration of Integrated Library Systems, network administration, strategic planning, budgeting, facilitating staff committees, and project management. Gail has been an Infopeople instructor and was the statewide trainer for the Bill & Melinda Gate Foundation Rural Library Sustainability Project offered through Infopeople, California State Library, and OCLC Webjunction.

Gail is currently Deputy County Librarian Ð Public Services for Contra Costa County Library. In her daily life, Gail oversees 12 of 25 community libraries, Reading and Literacy Services, and Outreach and Volunteer Services. Her duties include strategic direction, project management, supervision, and budgeting. Her achievements include mentoring first-time supervisors, working on library remodel projects, and strategic planning. Gail also has a strange fascination with grant writing. Her career goal is to be a library director or an independent consultant.

A native of Nevada who still yearns for the desert, her outside interests include cooking, reading (!), shopping, Top Chef and Project Runway (but not those other reality shows, thank you), three overbearing cats and her husband, Chris.