January 15, 2025 • 20 mins
In this episode, County Librarian Alison McKee talks about how libraries can address the national literacy crisis, serve unhoused populations, and save communities money.
Guests: County Librarian Alison McKee and Host Kristi Jourdan
20-25 minutes
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to government Speak.
This is where we'll cut throughthe government speak to get the
information you need aboutcounty programs, services, and
events straight from the source.
Welcome to Government Speak,
Contra Costa County'sofficial podcast.
I'm your host Christy Jordan,Contra Costa County's public
information officer, and onthis episode we have county
(00:21):
librarian Allison McKee andlibrary public information
officer Brooke Conversein studio 10 Douglas.
Brooke, Alison,welcome to the podcast.
Thanks for having us.
Thank you, um.
So when folks think oflibraries, they might picture
the old trope of, you know,spaces meant only for books,
super quiet, shushinglibrarians, but we are way more
than that here atContra Costa County.
(00:44):
Can you talk about the valuethat Contra Costa libraries add
to the community?
Absolutely, and you are correct.
We have an image problem, andit's not just Contra Costa
County libraries, it's publiclibraries all over the nation.
And we definitely have a lot ofbooks and books are our brand.
We're not so quiet anymore.
(01:07):
Um, usually I like to say thatuh the loudest people in the
library are the staff, but wealso invite people to come in
and connect with each other.
Uh, elderly folks, teens,families with young children so
that they can create community
(01:28):
and connectionswith one another.
Um, my gosh, um, the value that
we bring to thecommunity is so much.
I know I'm a little bit biased,but I really think it's true.
Um, we Again, to talk about theuh families and young children,
(01:49):
early literacy is so key to thefoundation of success in any
child's life, and we reallyhave a corner on that market.
Every single one of ourlibraries has story time for
babies where parents can learn
how to incorporateearly literacy.
(02:09):
Uh, strategies andmoments into their day.
They can get connected withother parents, they can get
connected with other resourcesthat the library has to offer.
We also offer a place forkids to come after school.
Not everybody can afford anafter school program um and our
(02:33):
libraries provide safe placesfor kids and a lot of curated
activities uh put on by ourexpert teen services staff.
We offer opportunities forsenior citizens to connect with
other adults in the communityand also library staff.
(02:55):
I hear from my staff quiteoften that when senior citizens
come in the library, they, it'snot unusual for them to hear,
Oh, you're the you're the onlyperson that I've seen today um
outside of my home.
So those are just a smatteringof our in-person offerings and
(03:16):
then all of our onlineofferings as well, um, ebooks,
downloadable audio books,streaming movies, um, job
resources, uh, uh, jobpreparation, uh, practice
tests, um.
(03:37):
Just to name a few.
So you're really a, a, a hubfor the community, um, and a
source of information for folks
just above andbeyond entertainment.
It's really kind ofcommunity, um, connection.
And so it doesn't happen alone.
Um, all of the services thatyou provide, you have a lot of
community partnerships and
(03:59):
partnerships with othercounty departments.
Can you talk about some ofthose and how they benefit, um,
patrons and, and residentshere in Contra Costa?
Yeah, absolutely.
Partnerships, um, are one of my
favorite thing totalk about and.
Particularly partnerships withother county departments, which
I feel like is just startingto get off the ground.
So because we're really theonly community space that
(04:22):
anybody can come into, theydon't have to pay, they don't
have to be a member.
All they have to do is be ableto get themselves in the door
and you know behavein a reasonable way.
That means that the people whocome into our libraries, um,
some of those folks are peoplewho don't have any place else
(04:45):
to go.
And those people who don't haveany place else to go are often
the people that other countydepartments are trying to
connect with to get themconnected to their services.
So, um, a partnership that I'mreally proud and excited about
is sort of a a threefer.
So it's the library.
(05:08):
It's EHSD and it's thebehavioral health department
and health services.
And um they've created what arecalled wellness teams in three
of our locations, Antioch,Concord and San Pablo.
And those wellness teams um area group of county staff who are
dedicated to signing peopleup for benefits and county
(05:33):
services that they might notbe aware of and also providing
them mental health support.
So it's really, I mean, thelibrary is kind of a social
safety net to catch all attimes depending on, you know,
the populations being servedand then their needs when
they're coming into the library.
(05:54):
Um, along those lines, whatare some of the stigmas that
libraries face, whether it'shere or nationwide, and then
how do we deal with those, um,here in Contra Costa County.
Yeah, I mean, I started offby saying we have sort of a
reputation problem, so that'sdefinitely a stigma that the
the library is really a placethat's really buttoned down and
you go in there and you don't
(06:16):
say a peep and um you you study.
So that's just um incorrect.
It's about 50 years old.
Um, we have fantastic outreachteams and Brooke does a
fantastic job.
Um, promoting our services and
a variety ofplatforms and venues.
(06:38):
Um, I'd say the other, um.
Problem with our image thatwe have or that we're just you
know a dusty place full ofbooks and um we're doing a lot
with our city partners and withum public works in the county
to really upgradeall our facilities.
(07:01):
Some of our libraries are realshowstoppers and others need a
lot of work, but regardless,any library you go into, I'm
pretty sure.
Anybody who goes into one ofour libraries, it's going to
feel really good.
It's going to feel like areally uplifted, inviting, nice
place to be.
(07:22):
Well, and you're gettingthe same level of service
regardless of whatlocation you go into.
How many locations dowe have countywide?
We have 26 locations and wehave a library inside of the
juvenile hall facility, and wehave an adult literacy program
called Project Second Chance.
Can you talk more aboutProject Second Chance?
I'd love to.
(07:43):
Yeah. Project Second Chance ummatches learners with tutors
who help them learn the basicskills of reading and writing.
So the learners fallinto two categories.
They're either adults who ummissed out on learning to read
and write in elementary,middle school and high school.
(08:07):
For a variety of reasons,maybe they have a learning
disability, maybe um they
couldn't go to school regularly.
Or they're English languagelearners and so they connect
folks with uh volunteer tutorswho meet with them twice a week
for about an hour and a halfand they have a fantastic
(08:28):
training for the tutors um anda curriculum, a set curriculum
that's been proven tobe very successful.
So, Brooke, in your role, howdo you take these kinds of, of,
uh, programs and market themand, and either try to raise
awareness about them or get
participants to, to be involved?
(08:49):
We take advantage of everypossible channel we can find,
whether they be working withour other county departments
and community organizationsto help us get the word out.
And and then recently we'vebeen You know, stretching our
our legs a little bit andtrying out different ideas on
the advertising front so we'vetried, you know, television and
(09:10):
streaming commercials, wedo bus ads, we've done some
digital billboards, um, butof course the best people who
spread the word are our staffso them just being in the
branches and getting the wordout to the people who are in
our branches and then you knowwe also use our patrons to help
us get the word out.
So we run a social mediaambassador program.
(09:31):
Which is basically a volunteerwho from home just helps
amplify what thelibrary is doing.
So all they have to do is signup by, you know, name and email
address and once a month ormaybe twice a month we'll send
them an email asking them tohelp us promote whatever we're
looking at that month.
So it might be.
(09:51):
That we're celebrating aheritage month or we might have
a special book program goingon or it could be one of our
digital services or we couldbe looking for volunteer tutors
for Project Second Chance.
So we just say please sharethis on your own social media
channels in your own words.
Tell them why you love thelibrary and why this program
might be important.
And then we hope that theyhelped to spread the word.
(10:11):
Well, and it's, it's such agreat strategy too because what
better way, I mean the librarycan say it right how great we
are and all this stuff, butwhen you have the people you
serve carrying that message,it's so much more effective and
what um social mediaplatforms is the library on?
So we're on Facebook, Instagramand Twitter and then we also
have a YouTube channel, whichis where we do post a lot of
(10:34):
our video content because wenot only, you know, promote
things but we create a lot ofcontent for families and for
adults to either learn aboutour different digital platforms
or we have video storytimes ordifferent kinds of things that
families can watch or that evenadults can watch to learn about
our resources, which reallylives up to the board's uh
theme of accessibility, makingsure that we're meeting people
(10:56):
where they are.
Um, along those lines, and Idon't mean to, to, to take it
negative, but are peopleeven reading anymore, Alison,
you know, I understand thatthere's a literacy crisis in
the US.
What does that mean and how arewe addressing it through the
programs and services herein Contra Costa County?
Yeah, great question.
(11:19):
And I read a headline and anews report yesterday that
says, um, That California hasreally not made much progress
um to close the learning gapthat was created during COVID.
So we're still in it um andwe were not doing great even
(11:40):
before COVID in terms ofliteracy in California.
There is a new law, AB 1825,that requires all public
libraries to partner withtheir local school districts to
ensure that every public schoolchild has a library card by the
time they're in 3rd grade.
(12:03):
Having a library card isfantastic, but what's even
better is them usingthe library card.
So we, um, everybody on ContraCosta County library staff were
in high gear.
Figuring out how we can reallyfirst of all get every kid
signed up for a library cardand then work with those school
(12:23):
districts for the teachers andthe families to leverage that
library card to get the kidsreading using our resources be
excited about uh reading when Ium used to be the librarian at
the juvenile hall library,the kids who came in.
Almost to a kid hadnever read a book before.
(12:44):
By the time they left, I thinkit was like 90% of the kids
said, I love reading now, so somuch um can be uh mitigated by
access, easy access to booksthat speak to those kids, that
speak to their experiencesthat are relevant to them.
(13:08):
So in addition to getting cardsinto the hands of kids and
working with the schooldistricts, our collection
development team is reallydoing a great job in figuring
out how can we get more anddifferent vendors so we have
more diverse points ofview in our collection.
And more languages inour collection and larger
(13:28):
collections ofnon-English materials.
I mean that's amazing.
So the metric isn't just getfolks to sign up for their
library card.
The success measurement is,are they actually using it?
Um, how many people do we haveon the team at the library for
those 26 locations?
Yeah, we have about 400 peoplewho work for the library.
(13:51):
About half of themare our library aides.
They are temporary employeeswho may work anywhere from 5 to
19 hours a week, and they're
the unsung heroesof our library.
I tell them whenever I have achance to meet with them, our
library system wouldcollapse without you.
(14:12):
So don't ever thinkI'm just a library aid.
Um, and the other half of thoseemployees are part-time or
full-time, uh, salariedbenefited staff.
So they range from libraryclerks to librarians to
managers to our IT staff to ourbudget and finance staff, to
(14:35):
our marketing team.
Um, we've got a really robust
group of folks workingfor the library.
So, um, I've heard you talkabout this before, uh, that
libraries can save people moneyand you've referenced some of
the examples, but can you, youknow, that's a, that's a huge,
especially in this economy,it's a, it's a huge takeaway
(14:58):
for folks um to be able to savemoney and to do that with the
resource that thecounty's providing.
So how does the librarysave people money?
Oh, so many ways.
First of all, you don'thave to buy your books.
You can check them out.
Second, you don't need topay for a subscription for
downloadable audiobooks.
You can get those at thelibrary, um, New York Times,
(15:18):
Washington Post, East BayTimes, you can get those for
free at the library.
Um, we've gotstreaming movies again.
Maybe you can cancel youronline subscription and check
out what we've got atthe library instead.
Can you think of anythingelse, Brooke, that I'm missing?
(15:39):
Did you say the newspapers?
I said the newspapers, andwe have some of the papers.
Wall Street Journal, NewYork Times, Washington Post.
You can also get the localones, East Bay Times, um, San
Francisco Chronicle, SacramentoBee, all free, no paywalls.
Well, that's huge too.
(16:00):
I mean, again, that'sjust another example of
accessibility being able to, toget to these resources in a way
that, you know, you justsign up for that card and it
suddenly opens a wholenew world for you.
Um.
One of the um.
missions of the podcast isto humanize the efforts.
There, there are people whoare putting, you know, together
(16:21):
these programs and servicesand delivering on those.
So let's talk about who, whois Alison McKee, you know, how
long have you workedat the county?
What's your backgroundand experience?
Yeah, I have worked forthe county since 2002.
I started as a part-timelibrary assistant and sort of
(16:41):
worked my way over aroundand up into this position.
I, uh, became thecounty librarian in.
October of 2020, so you knowit's been pretty boring.
Yeah, but um it was this is mythird career prior to working
Not going on.
(17:02):
at the library, um,I was a gardener.
I worked, I had my own littlebusiness and I worked at
Berkeley Horticultural Nurseryand then prior to that I was a
classical musician.
I played the French horn andmade my living doing that for
about 10 years.
That is so cool.
(17:23):
And then how much of kind ofthose previous Allison chapters
do you bring into umyour current work?
I mean, when you think abouthow to garden or, you know, how
to be a musician, the librarycan be a place for you to go
and learn more about that.
But how do you, how do you takefrom your experience and apply
it to, to present day?
Yeah, great question.
(17:46):
I like to say 3rd time's thecharm and also this job is the
most creative job I've everhad to um be a department head
takes every you know ounce ofcreative skill and vision and
so much more, so much more
creative than beinga classical musician.
Well, um, Brooke,what about you?
(18:09):
You know, coming inin marketing, um, and
communicating about theprograms and services provided
by the library.
That's really unique.
So, you know, whatis your background?
Well, like most, um, publicinformation officers, I'm a
recovering journalist, so I, myfirst career was in, uh, was as
a TV news producer.
I did that for several years,but then just decided that
(18:30):
something with a little bitbetter schedule and to be
honest, I paid a little betterwas, was, was the goal so um
switched over to the otherside, but some of my previous
positions where I was the mediadirector for the California
State Fair.
Um, I actually worked for acooking show as a producer for
a little while.
I, um.
(18:51):
I was, uh, I worked for theoffice of the president for the
for the University ofCalifornia when Janet
Napolitano was the president,uh, and then I've been with the
county since 2015.
So all that creativestorytelling, you're tapping
into those news news, uh,storytelling experiences.
So, um, that's great.
Uh, if, if there's one takeawayfrom our discussion today, what
(19:14):
would you want peopleto remember the most?
We have something for you evenif you think we don't we do if
you're a community partnerif you're another county
department or if you'resomebody who you know hasn't
been in a library for 20 yearsor since you were a little kid.
(19:36):
Come check us out.
We definitely havesomething for you.
There are very fewpeople we can't help.
Um, well, that's great.
Thank you so much toyou both for being here.
Uh, that's it for our show.
I'm Christy Jordan, ContraCosta County's public
information officer.
Thanks for joining us inthe Government Speak podcast
brought to you by the Office ofCommunications and Media, but
don't just take our word for it.
(19:58):
Stay curious, stayconnected, and stay informed.
Until next time, keep your mindopen and your facts straight.
Welcome to government Speak.
This is where we'll cut throughthe government speak to get the
information you need aboutcounty programs, services, and
events straight from the source.
Welcome to Government Speak,
Contra Costa County'sofficial podcast.
I'm your host Christy Jordan,Contra Costa County's public
information officer, and onthis episode we have county
(00:21):
librarian Allison McKee andlibrary public information
officer Brooke Conversein studio 10 Douglas.
Brooke, Alison,welcome to the podcast.
Thanks for having us.
Thank you, um.
So when folks think oflibraries, they might picture
the old trope of, you know,spaces meant only for books,
super quiet, shushinglibrarians, but we are way more
than that here atContra Costa County.
(00:44):
Can you talk about the valuethat Contra Costa libraries add
to the community?
Absolutely, and you are correct.
We have an image problem, andit's not just Contra Costa
County libraries, it's publiclibraries all over the nation.
And we definitely have a lot ofbooks and books are our brand.
We're not so quiet anymore.
(01:07):
Um, usually I like to say thatuh the loudest people in the
library are the staff, but wealso invite people to come in
and connect with each other.
Uh, elderly folks, teens,families with young children so
that they can create community
(01:28):
and connectionswith one another.
Um, my gosh, um, the value that
we bring to thecommunity is so much.
I know I'm a little bit biased,but I really think it's true.
Um, we Again, to talk about theuh families and young children,
(01:49):
early literacy is so key to thefoundation of success in any
child's life, and we reallyhave a corner on that market.
Every single one of ourlibraries has story time for
babies where parents can learn
how to incorporateearly literacy.
(02:09):
Uh, strategies andmoments into their day.
They can get connected withother parents, they can get
connected with other resourcesthat the library has to offer.
We also offer a place forkids to come after school.
Not everybody can afford anafter school program um and our
(02:33):
libraries provide safe placesfor kids and a lot of curated
activities uh put on by ourexpert teen services staff.
We offer opportunities forsenior citizens to connect with
other adults in the communityand also library staff.
(02:55):
I hear from my staff quiteoften that when senior citizens
come in the library, they, it'snot unusual for them to hear,
Oh, you're the you're the onlyperson that I've seen today um
outside of my home.
So those are just a smatteringof our in-person offerings and
(03:16):
then all of our onlineofferings as well, um, ebooks,
downloadable audio books,streaming movies, um, job
resources, uh, uh, jobpreparation, uh, practice
tests, um.
(03:37):
Just to name a few.
So you're really a, a, a hubfor the community, um, and a
source of information for folks
just above andbeyond entertainment.
It's really kind ofcommunity, um, connection.
And so it doesn't happen alone.
Um, all of the services thatyou provide, you have a lot of
community partnerships and
(03:59):
partnerships with othercounty departments.
Can you talk about some ofthose and how they benefit, um,
patrons and, and residentshere in Contra Costa?
Yeah, absolutely.
Partnerships, um, are one of my
favorite thing totalk about and.
Particularly partnerships withother county departments, which
I feel like is just startingto get off the ground.
So because we're really theonly community space that
(04:22):
anybody can come into, theydon't have to pay, they don't
have to be a member.
All they have to do is be ableto get themselves in the door
and you know behavein a reasonable way.
That means that the people whocome into our libraries, um,
some of those folks are peoplewho don't have any place else
(04:45):
to go.
And those people who don't haveany place else to go are often
the people that other countydepartments are trying to
connect with to get themconnected to their services.
So, um, a partnership that I'mreally proud and excited about
is sort of a a threefer.
So it's the library.
(05:08):
It's EHSD and it's thebehavioral health department
and health services.
And um they've created what arecalled wellness teams in three
of our locations, Antioch,Concord and San Pablo.
And those wellness teams um area group of county staff who are
dedicated to signing peopleup for benefits and county
(05:33):
services that they might notbe aware of and also providing
them mental health support.
So it's really, I mean, thelibrary is kind of a social
safety net to catch all attimes depending on, you know,
the populations being servedand then their needs when
they're coming into the library.
(05:54):
Um, along those lines, whatare some of the stigmas that
libraries face, whether it'shere or nationwide, and then
how do we deal with those, um,here in Contra Costa County.
Yeah, I mean, I started offby saying we have sort of a
reputation problem, so that'sdefinitely a stigma that the
the library is really a placethat's really buttoned down and
you go in there and you don't
(06:16):
say a peep and um you you study.
So that's just um incorrect.
It's about 50 years old.
Um, we have fantastic outreachteams and Brooke does a
fantastic job.
Um, promoting our services and
a variety ofplatforms and venues.
(06:38):
Um, I'd say the other, um.
Problem with our image thatwe have or that we're just you
know a dusty place full ofbooks and um we're doing a lot
with our city partners and withum public works in the county
to really upgradeall our facilities.
(07:01):
Some of our libraries are realshowstoppers and others need a
lot of work, but regardless,any library you go into, I'm
pretty sure.
Anybody who goes into one ofour libraries, it's going to
feel really good.
It's going to feel like areally uplifted, inviting, nice
place to be.
(07:22):
Well, and you're gettingthe same level of service
regardless of whatlocation you go into.
How many locations dowe have countywide?
We have 26 locations and wehave a library inside of the
juvenile hall facility, and wehave an adult literacy program
called Project Second Chance.
Can you talk more aboutProject Second Chance?
I'd love to.
(07:43):
Yeah. Project Second Chance ummatches learners with tutors
who help them learn the basicskills of reading and writing.
So the learners fallinto two categories.
They're either adults who ummissed out on learning to read
and write in elementary,middle school and high school.
(08:07):
For a variety of reasons,maybe they have a learning
disability, maybe um they
couldn't go to school regularly.
Or they're English languagelearners and so they connect
folks with uh volunteer tutorswho meet with them twice a week
for about an hour and a halfand they have a fantastic
(08:28):
training for the tutors um anda curriculum, a set curriculum
that's been proven tobe very successful.
So, Brooke, in your role, howdo you take these kinds of, of,
uh, programs and market themand, and either try to raise
awareness about them or get
participants to, to be involved?
(08:49):
We take advantage of everypossible channel we can find,
whether they be working withour other county departments
and community organizationsto help us get the word out.
And and then recently we'vebeen You know, stretching our
our legs a little bit andtrying out different ideas on
the advertising front so we'vetried, you know, television and
(09:10):
streaming commercials, wedo bus ads, we've done some
digital billboards, um, butof course the best people who
spread the word are our staffso them just being in the
branches and getting the wordout to the people who are in
our branches and then you knowwe also use our patrons to help
us get the word out.
So we run a social mediaambassador program.
(09:31):
Which is basically a volunteerwho from home just helps
amplify what thelibrary is doing.
So all they have to do is signup by, you know, name and email
address and once a month ormaybe twice a month we'll send
them an email asking them tohelp us promote whatever we're
looking at that month.
So it might be.
(09:51):
That we're celebrating aheritage month or we might have
a special book program goingon or it could be one of our
digital services or we couldbe looking for volunteer tutors
for Project Second Chance.
So we just say please sharethis on your own social media
channels in your own words.
Tell them why you love thelibrary and why this program
might be important.
And then we hope that theyhelped to spread the word.
(10:11):
Well, and it's, it's such agreat strategy too because what
better way, I mean the librarycan say it right how great we
are and all this stuff, butwhen you have the people you
serve carrying that message,it's so much more effective and
what um social mediaplatforms is the library on?
So we're on Facebook, Instagramand Twitter and then we also
have a YouTube channel, whichis where we do post a lot of
(10:34):
our video content because wenot only, you know, promote
things but we create a lot ofcontent for families and for
adults to either learn aboutour different digital platforms
or we have video storytimes ordifferent kinds of things that
families can watch or that evenadults can watch to learn about
our resources, which reallylives up to the board's uh
theme of accessibility, makingsure that we're meeting people
(10:56):
where they are.
Um, along those lines, and Idon't mean to, to, to take it
negative, but are peopleeven reading anymore, Alison,
you know, I understand thatthere's a literacy crisis in
the US.
What does that mean and how arewe addressing it through the
programs and services herein Contra Costa County?
Yeah, great question.
(11:19):
And I read a headline and anews report yesterday that
says, um, That California hasreally not made much progress
um to close the learning gapthat was created during COVID.
So we're still in it um andwe were not doing great even
(11:40):
before COVID in terms ofliteracy in California.
There is a new law, AB 1825,that requires all public
libraries to partner withtheir local school districts to
ensure that every public schoolchild has a library card by the
time they're in 3rd grade.
(12:03):
Having a library card isfantastic, but what's even
better is them usingthe library card.
So we, um, everybody on ContraCosta County library staff were
in high gear.
Figuring out how we can reallyfirst of all get every kid
signed up for a library cardand then work with those school
(12:23):
districts for the teachers andthe families to leverage that
library card to get the kidsreading using our resources be
excited about uh reading when Ium used to be the librarian at
the juvenile hall library,the kids who came in.
Almost to a kid hadnever read a book before.
(12:44):
By the time they left, I thinkit was like 90% of the kids
said, I love reading now, so somuch um can be uh mitigated by
access, easy access to booksthat speak to those kids, that
speak to their experiencesthat are relevant to them.
(13:08):
So in addition to getting cardsinto the hands of kids and
working with the schooldistricts, our collection
development team is reallydoing a great job in figuring
out how can we get more anddifferent vendors so we have
more diverse points ofview in our collection.
And more languages inour collection and larger
(13:28):
collections ofnon-English materials.
I mean that's amazing.
So the metric isn't just getfolks to sign up for their
library card.
The success measurement is,are they actually using it?
Um, how many people do we haveon the team at the library for
those 26 locations?
Yeah, we have about 400 peoplewho work for the library.
(13:51):
About half of themare our library aides.
They are temporary employeeswho may work anywhere from 5 to
19 hours a week, and they're
the unsung heroesof our library.
I tell them whenever I have achance to meet with them, our
library system wouldcollapse without you.
(14:12):
So don't ever thinkI'm just a library aid.
Um, and the other half of thoseemployees are part-time or
full-time, uh, salariedbenefited staff.
So they range from libraryclerks to librarians to
managers to our IT staff to ourbudget and finance staff, to
(14:35):
our marketing team.
Um, we've got a really robust
group of folks workingfor the library.
So, um, I've heard you talkabout this before, uh, that
libraries can save people moneyand you've referenced some of
the examples, but can you, youknow, that's a, that's a huge,
especially in this economy,it's a, it's a huge takeaway
(14:58):
for folks um to be able to savemoney and to do that with the
resource that thecounty's providing.
So how does the librarysave people money?
Oh, so many ways.
First of all, you don'thave to buy your books.
You can check them out.
Second, you don't need topay for a subscription for
downloadable audiobooks.
You can get those at thelibrary, um, New York Times,
(15:18):
Washington Post, East BayTimes, you can get those for
free at the library.
Um, we've gotstreaming movies again.
Maybe you can cancel youronline subscription and check
out what we've got atthe library instead.
Can you think of anythingelse, Brooke, that I'm missing?
(15:39):
Did you say the newspapers?
I said the newspapers, andwe have some of the papers.
Wall Street Journal, NewYork Times, Washington Post.
You can also get the localones, East Bay Times, um, San
Francisco Chronicle, SacramentoBee, all free, no paywalls.
Well, that's huge too.
(16:00):
I mean, again, that'sjust another example of
accessibility being able to, toget to these resources in a way
that, you know, you justsign up for that card and it
suddenly opens a wholenew world for you.
Um.
One of the um.
missions of the podcast isto humanize the efforts.
There, there are people whoare putting, you know, together
(16:21):
these programs and servicesand delivering on those.
So let's talk about who, whois Alison McKee, you know, how
long have you workedat the county?
What's your backgroundand experience?
Yeah, I have worked forthe county since 2002.
I started as a part-timelibrary assistant and sort of
(16:41):
worked my way over aroundand up into this position.
I, uh, became thecounty librarian in.
October of 2020, so you knowit's been pretty boring.
Yeah, but um it was this is mythird career prior to working
Not going on.
(17:02):
at the library, um,I was a gardener.
I worked, I had my own littlebusiness and I worked at
Berkeley Horticultural Nurseryand then prior to that I was a
classical musician.
I played the French horn andmade my living doing that for
about 10 years.
That is so cool.
(17:23):
And then how much of kind ofthose previous Allison chapters
do you bring into umyour current work?
I mean, when you think abouthow to garden or, you know, how
to be a musician, the librarycan be a place for you to go
and learn more about that.
But how do you, how do you takefrom your experience and apply
it to, to present day?
Yeah, great question.
(17:46):
I like to say 3rd time's thecharm and also this job is the
most creative job I've everhad to um be a department head
takes every you know ounce ofcreative skill and vision and
so much more, so much more
creative than beinga classical musician.
Well, um, Brooke,what about you?
(18:09):
You know, coming inin marketing, um, and
communicating about theprograms and services provided
by the library.
That's really unique.
So, you know, whatis your background?
Well, like most, um, publicinformation officers, I'm a
recovering journalist, so I, myfirst career was in, uh, was as
a TV news producer.
I did that for several years,but then just decided that
(18:30):
something with a little bitbetter schedule and to be
honest, I paid a little betterwas, was, was the goal so um
switched over to the otherside, but some of my previous
positions where I was the mediadirector for the California
State Fair.
Um, I actually worked for acooking show as a producer for
a little while.
I, um.
(18:51):
I was, uh, I worked for theoffice of the president for the
for the University ofCalifornia when Janet
Napolitano was the president,uh, and then I've been with the
county since 2015.
So all that creativestorytelling, you're tapping
into those news news, uh,storytelling experiences.
So, um, that's great.
Uh, if, if there's one takeawayfrom our discussion today, what
(19:14):
would you want peopleto remember the most?
We have something for you evenif you think we don't we do if
you're a community partnerif you're another county
department or if you'resomebody who you know hasn't
been in a library for 20 yearsor since you were a little kid.
(19:36):
Come check us out.
We definitely havesomething for you.
There are very fewpeople we can't help.
Um, well, that's great.
Thank you so much toyou both for being here.
Uh, that's it for our show.
I'm Christy Jordan, ContraCosta County's public
information officer.
Thanks for joining us inthe Government Speak podcast
brought to you by the Office ofCommunications and Media, but
don't just take our word for it.
(19:58):
Stay curious, stayconnected, and stay informed.
Until next time, keep your mindopen and your facts straight.
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