LJ’s 2019 Librarian of the Year directs the LA County Library with creativity and an inclusive spirit
“There is a strong, important future for libraries…. Libraries are not about books, they are about people. We have to change how we serve and engage people,” says Skye Patrick, director of the LA County Library since February 2016. “The library of the 21st century must build a high level of engagement with the community and all the people and be a constant learning environment both formally and informally.”

To effect that change, says Patrick, requires change within as well as without. “This field needs to make more room for people who are not your typical library types. We need to make room for different disciplines to come into this field and expand it.”

LA County hosts one of the largest library systems in the United States, with 87 library facilities serving 3.4 million people.