I have been a librarian for about a baker's dozen of years, although if you count high school and college, it's been even longer than that. I started out at Johnson County Library, Shawnee Mission, Kansas (the Kansas suburbs of Kansas City), and spent almost five years as the Teen Librarian for Pasadena Public Library. I am currently the Senior Librarian – Youth Services for Monrovia Public Library, a position I've held for over 5 years. I supervise a terrific staff of five librarians, four library pages, two Youth Services clerks, and a revolving variety of volunteers and interns.

At various times in the past, I have been active in Children's Literature Council of Southern California and the Young Adult Library Services Association. I am currently vice-president of Monrovia Reads, an award-winning non-profit that puts books in the hands of kids who need them. I love to read (duh!), especially historical murder mysteries and juicy biographies, vegetable gardening, preserving and canning fruits and vegetables, giving parties, and all sorts of music. I live with my partner of sixteen years in Pomona with our two dogs, one cat, and various raised vegetable beds and fruit trees.

I want to attend the Eureka! Leadership workshop for two reasons. I first think that libraries, particularly in California, are in deep trouble right now, and networking together to discuss leadership is important vital to the future of librarianship. I also want to enhance my personal leadership skills. The more I supervise, the more I enjoy it – administration is fun! The more I can learn about leadership, the better leader I can be!