Meet Barbara Pickell: An RT Member Profile

By Tess Goldwasser

What is your role in the GLBTRT?

I am currently the Chair of the Membership Committee.

What does the GLBTRT mean to you?

GLBTRT has given me the opportunity to meet some great people who are truly passionate about the library profession and providing outstanding library service to all people. It has expanded my horizons and made me think about issues I might have overlooked before. For example, my library and my city no longer ask for gender identity on our library card or employment applications because of a discussion on the GLBTRT group. It’s made me more aware and more compassionate.

Are you involved in ALA in other ways?

I was a representative from GLBTRT to the Committee on Diversity, and a GLBTRT program chair in the past. I am a Director on the Intellectual Freedom Round Table right now. Intellectual Freedom is a passion in my life. I have previously served on the Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship (COSWL).

What professional work do you perform?

I am the Director of the Clearwater Public Library System in Florida.  I oversee a system with 5 branches and about 100 employees. Right now, we are building a new library branch, which is truly exciting.

What would you like to tell us about your personal life?

My partner, Kathie, and I love to travel. We are particularly fond of finding new food experiences. I have two grown children and four cats. I enjoy reading mysteries and fantasy.

What are you most proud of?

I think one of my greatest strengths is creative problem solving. It has certainly been a test over the last few years to figure out how to protect what is most important in library service and let go of things that may be traditional but don’t rise to the top of the priority list. Now we’re moving away from that time of reductions, but the speed of change hasn’t lessened, so the task going forward is to create the vision of different ways to provide service and make it happen. It’s challenging but really exciting.

Who inspires you?

One of my biggest inspirations was Candy Morgan, a long time librarian, ALA icon, and Intellectual Freedom advocate. I had the opportunity to work for her at one point, and she taught me many things, including how to be a supervisor and a manager, how to find my voice, and, most importantly, how to know and live my passion. She provided a role model that I have tried to emulate. It has shaped my approach to library service and life in general as I strive to remember what is really important and not let that get overshadowed by the day to day issues that try to consume us all.

What is your favorite holiday and how do you celebrate?

Labor Day, and I’d celebrate by sending my kids back to school? Actually, I love the fall, so it would probably be Thanksgiving. Since I’ve lived in many locations, though, it was never a big family gathering, just the immediate family being together.

If you could be transported into the fictional world of any book, where would you go?

I’d have to go to my standby favorites, Jane Austen novels.

What do you have to say about the future of libraries?

I think, at their most fundamental, libraries will not change. They will still provide access, and they will still provide community. How that happens will probably never be stable and long term again. We’ll still have books, but they will come in many formats. We’ll also facilitate communication in other ways. Maker spaces, or active learning options, will be with us for a while, helping to create that sense of community, but that will change too. We’re not working toward a goal, we’re just on a journey, and it will be the journey that is most important. But through all of that, if we can protect two fundamental values, I believe we will be true to our heritage and mission: 1. The Library helps to insure that everyone, no matter their background or wealth, has access to the tools and information they need to survive and prosper, and 2. The Library insures that knowledge and information, as well as a cultural record, are preserved for the future, and available to everyone, even when they are controversial.

Where would you like to see GLBTRT go in the future?

I’d like to see the GLBTRT find a way to involve all of the young people who are entering the profession.  I’ve seen young people come to membership meetings and leave without really feeling they have made a connection, and most of the time we get only one chance to reach them. The ALA structure is pretty rigid, so I don’t have an answer or a magic wand, but I think it needs to be given some serious thought.  Our profession is really all about people. We all entered it for the chance to serve, certainly not for the money! How can we provide opportunities for these young people to support the values the GLBTRT stands for?

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