If I were not a person, I’d like to be a bridge . Throughout my life, there are two beliefs that have moved me forward. The first of these encompasses justice, human rights, and equality. The second, and more recently acquired, embodies empathy and understanding. I believe that these two concepts are inextricably entwined, especially when it comes to working in a library.

            The ninth statement in the American Library Association’s Code of Ethics states that as librarians, we must work to dismantle biases, inequity, and oppression, and “advance racial and social justice in our libraries, communities, profession, and associations through awareness, advocacy, education, collaboration, services, and allocation of resources and spaces." My commitment to doing just that – helping to empower people and foster equality through knowledge and resources – is what inspired me to become a librarian. I have learned that this can best be done through implementing “principles, concepts, and techniques for understanding and assessing the information needs of a community, and understand[ing] the ways the library can assist and collaborate in meeting those needs.” To effectively help people gain knowledge, community, resources, or any form of empowerment through library services, we must learn to empathize with and understand people of different cultures, backgrounds, and values than our own.

I am passionate about the idea that we need to go further, beyond empathy and understanding, to truly succeed. To create a “welcoming and inclusive environment,” we must connect with patrons as human beings. Further, members of a library’s community must feel safe to take our recommendations seriously. It is essential for library staff to foster a sense of trust between themselves and community members. This includes learning about other cultures, and about experiences that might shape a person’s values, especially those who are different from us. I believe that to be a reliable bridge, I must constantly strengthen my abutments, my beams, and my arch in the form of broadening my awareness and empathy, as well as my commitment to social justice.

            Through this ability and desire to understand and connect, I believe that I can, in turn, effectively connect community members to resources, information, and each other, and I have faith that this will contribute to the spread of knowledge and understanding between everyone in the community. I believe that it is my calling, in librarianship and in life, to be a bridge, and I intend to be a sturdy one.

This I Believe

Elevator Speech

Diversity Statement

Society is, in its current form, systemically designed to benefit those who already have wealth and power and to oppress those who do not. As a queer person, I have seen many in my community start to lose hope that it will ever be any other way. I have decided to refuse to become hopeless and to dedicate my life to rekindle that hope in other people. Through my library work, I aim to create programming that connects users to each other and empowers them. I aim to connect with my community of library users, regardless of background, so I do not just know what their needs are, but truly understand them as individual people, so they know they are, not only included, but truly belong in the library and in the community. I aim to use what privileges I do have to amplify the voices of others. I aim to establish a rapport of trust between library users and library staff, which can allow us to connect them to the information and resources they need to work towards a more equitable future for everyone. I continue to have hope because I know that, if people work together, we can build a better world.