In addition to being a librarian I fancy myself something of a maker, which is why my current job as part of the Sacramento Public Library's Programming Team is so incredibly satisfying. Not only do I get to teach computer classes, lead book groups in bars, and do scads of outreach, but I also get to craft…a lot. I've been a Programming Librarian for the last year and a half, and since the Sacramento Public Library has only had Programming Librarians for the last year and a half, I've been able to help design my own job in many ways. Creativity as a job requirement makes for a very fun workplace.

I received my undergraduate degree in English Literature from Loyola University in New Orleans in 2001. I followed that up with a Master's in American Literature from Keele University in England. I used to tell people I studied American Literature in England for the unique perspective, but I was fooling no one—I wanted to live in England for two years. After graduating in 2003, I moved to Portland, Oregon—I didn't want to shock my system with too many sunny days—where I began volunteering for Multnomah County Public Library and experimented with being a hipster. Volunteering made me realize that there could be a career in this library thing (one can only be a successful hipster for so long). I did a little more location based decision making and enrolled in library school in Simmons College in Boston, Mass. I began working for the Sacramento Public Library in 2007 as a teen/adult librarian at the Arcade branch. I'm staying put here; I've bought a lovely little dream of a house, and I'm working to convince people that the city of Sacramento is good for more than easy access to San Francisco and Tahoe.

I'm hoping the Eureka! Leadership Institute will help prepare me for future legs of my career and allow me to make contacts with more of California's creative librarians.