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Skye Patrick

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Skye Patrick is an American librarian who has served as Library Director of LA County Library since February 2016.

Skye Patrick, LA County Library Director, standing inside Willowbrook Library
Skye Patrick, LA County Library Director

Early life and education

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Patrick grew up in Lansing, Michigan where she was partially in foster care.[1] She worked as a library page while in high school and graduated from Northern Michigan University in 1996 with a bachelor of fine arts degree.[1]

While at NMU, she helped create the Ten Percent Club which became the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersexed Student Union.[2] Her master’s degree in library and information science is from the University of Pittsburgh.[1]

Earlier library experiences

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Patrick was the Director of Libraries for Broward County, Florida where she was the second African American, the first openly LGBTQ person, and first woman to hold the position.[3] Before that she was Assistant Director of the Queens Public Library[4] and San Francisco Public Library.[5]

Library Director of LA County Library

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Patrick has served as Library Director of LA County Library since February 2016 and is its first African American Director.

As of 2023, the Library Director oversees Los Angeles County's 85 libraries, 1 institutional library, 4 Cultural Resource Centers, and a mobile fleet of MākMō maker mobiles and Bookmobiles which serve 3.5 million people with an annual operating budget of over $200 million.[6][7]

Under Patrick's tenure, the Library started a fine-forgiveness program where patrons under 21 can "read away" their late fees, resulting in 13,000 previously blocked accounts being reinstated. The Library also eliminated fines for overdue books and materials in August 2021.[8]

Patrick implemented LA County Library’s iCount initiative, which prioritizes the design and development of services and programs that address the needs of diverse customers and their varying age groups, genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities, social-economic status, physical abilities, nationalities, and legal status.[9]

Among the services and programs that were developed by Patrick to address the needs of communities of color, is LA County Library’s partnership with Barbershop Books and My Brother’s Keeper. Barbershop Books created child-friendly reading spaces inside 10 barbershops in South Los Angeles that were intended to help black boys ages 4-8 identify as readers by connecting to books and reading in a male-centered space.[10]

The library also created its My Brother’s Keeper Peer Advocates program under Patrick as part of the MBK Challenge, launched by former President Obama in February 2014, which called upon cities, counties, and tribal governments to make a difference in improving outcomes for boys and young men of color. LA County Library’s MBK Peer Advocates support special projects, services, and programming at the library while cultivating skills and experience that help them with future employment and schooling.[11]

Patrick also launched a series of services to address the Digital Divide with a laptop and hotspot lending program called Laptop & Hotspot Loans[12] and Park & Connect, which allows customers to access free outdoor wi-fi at the library’s parking lots.[13]

Under Patrick’s leadership, LA County Library’s community libraries serve as community hubs during disasters or emergencies. LA County Library collaborated with the Los Angeles Department of Public Health to provide pop-up COVID-19 testing and vaccination clinics in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[14]

In January 2019, Patrick was named Librarian of the Year by Library Journal.[15] The Library also won the Library Journal 2019 Library of the Year award and 2018 Marketer of the Year award,[16] in addition to being named a finalist for the Institute of Museum and Library Services National Medal in 2018 and 2019.[17] 

In October 2020, Patrick accepted the Community Impact Award from Innovate@UCLA, part of UCLA’s annual Executive Leadership Awards.[18]

In 2023, LA County Library was selected as one of eight recipients of the 2023 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries that demonstrate excellence in service to their communities.[19]

Personal life

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Patrick serves on the Executive Board of the Urban Libraries Council (ULC) and California Humanities.[20]

In 2019, Patrick was selected by the Durfee Foundation as one of six Los Angeles-based residents who received a Stanton Fellowship to explore responses to some of L.A.’s most pressing challenges, including segregation based on race and ethnicity, national origin, income, educational level, and occupational category.[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Tiano, Sara (August 30, 2018). "L.A.'s Head Librarian, a Former Foster Youth, is Putting a New Spin on Career Development Opportunities". The Imprint. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  2. ^ "Skye Patrick Oral History Interview". The NMU Archives Collection Guide. September 14, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  3. ^ Peet, Lisa (January 29, 2019). "Celebrating Skye Patrick, Librarian of the Year - ALA Midwinter 2019". Library Journal. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  4. ^ "Skye Patrick Becomes First African-American Library Director for the County Library". Los Angeles Sentinel. February 17, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  5. ^ "San Francisco Public Library", Wikipedia, January 11, 2023, retrieved February 1, 2023
  6. ^ "Skye Patrick - LA County Management Council". managementcouncil.lacounty.gov. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  7. ^ "Turning the Page: The Unfinished Story of LA County's Library Director". NBC Los Angeles. February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  8. ^ "LA County Library". LA County Library. August 19, 2021. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  9. ^ "LA County Library Director Skye Patrick Honored as Library Journal's 2019 Librarian of the Year".
  10. ^ "LA County Library Partners with Barbershop Books to Inspire Young Boys to Read".
  11. ^ "Become an MBK Peer Advocate" (PDF).
  12. ^ "L.A. County libraries now offer laptops for loan, mobile hot-spot kits".
  13. ^ "Los Angeles County Libraries Offer Free Wi-Fi Service In Parking Lots".
  14. ^ "Los Angeles County Expands Testing Sites To Libraries, Relaunches Mail-Order Program". CBS News. February 2, 2022.
  15. ^ "LA County Library". LA County Library. January 3, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  16. ^ Berry III, John N. "LA County Library Is Library of the Year 2019". Library Journal. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  17. ^ "LA County Library". LA County Library. March 15, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  18. ^ Community Impact Award: LA County Library, June 18, 2021, retrieved February 1, 2023
  19. ^ "IMLS Selects Winners for Nation's Highest Museum and Library Honor".
  20. ^ "Executive Board". Urban Libraries Council. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  21. ^ "L.A. County library director awarded with fellowship". December 5, 2019.
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