One-Line Bio
I am Director of the Palos Verdes Library District.
Biography
Director of the Palos Verdes Library District (PVLD) on the beautiful Palos Verdes Peninsula in Southern California. PVLD includes the Peninsula Center, Malaga Cove, and Miraleste Libraries as well as an Annex serving teens and, more recently, older adults.
We aspire to be the "best little library system" in California, if not the U.S.
Born in Santa Barbara but lived in Canada from age 12 through college . Bachelor of Arts degree from Brandon University in Manitoba Canada. Master of Science in Library Science degree from University of Sotuhern California.
After library school I worked as a reference librarian at Pasadena Public Library, and as a corporate librarian for a small technology start up company in Pasadena.. In 1987 had the opportunity to work move to Australia to work for an Australian aluminum manufacturer first as a contractor on a large IT project, and then in a variety of management positions in IT, Human Resources, and Operations in various locations in New Zealand and Australia.
Joined ARCO’s Australian Coal Division in 1996 and led the human resources department at a large underground coal mine in Emerald, Queensland, a small community on the edge of the Outback.
In 1998 returned to return to the States for family reasons and I accepted an executive position with Commonwealth Industries in Louisville, Kentucky. Responsible for all corporate Information Technology, Human Resources, and External Relations/Shareholder Relations functions.
After 5 years in Louisville I had a growing desire to return to my public service and library roots. In late 2003 we decided to take the plunge, quit our jobs, and moved back to California. The original plan was to take six months off to work on fixing up our 70 year old house, and eventually find a suitable job, but the week after we arrived I was surfing the Internet and came across the posting for the Palos Verdes Library Director position. The rest, as they say, is history. I’ve been at PVLD since January 2004.
I’m married (my husband, Don is a librarian with Los Angeles County after being the “trailing spouse” for many years), no kids. We live in Redondo Beach with our 2 dogs.
