Faces of NNLM Region 4: Lisa Lewis

Posted by liaison on November 5th, 2021 Posted in: #CC/Academic List, #Health Interest List, #Health Sciences List, #Public/K-12 List, All Members

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We will be shining a light on Lisa Lewis, Library Services Manager for Show Low Public Library. Below is an interview with Ms. Lewis about her experience being a librarian.

Can you give us the elevator-speech rundown of your librarian career? 

Lisa Lewis has been working in libraries for over 20 years and is currently the Library Services Manager for Show Low Public Library in Arizona.  Lisa has had many adventures including being invited by the U.S. Embassy in Croatia to present a series of workshops to the librarians there.  Lisa has written and received several grants such as the NASA @ My Library grant, LSTA Grants, STEM grants, and several grants from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine which focus on Healthy Living. 

What are your top work activities? 

Managing a library involves a lot of different activities.  I would say the top ones are researching and writing grants, working with staff on incorporating programs that are unique and beneficial to our community’s needs, and developing a diverse collection.   

What prompted you to become a librarian? 

I grew up watching my mom read all of the time!  She was a single mom for many years and made a point to take us to the library often so we could develop that love of reading and learning.  During my school years, I spent all of my free time at the library exploring and reading everything I could get my hands on.  I didn’t have the opportunity to work in libraries until later in life where I started my career in libraries at a rural K-12 school in southern Arizona.  I moved to public libraries in 2007 and have worked in public libraries ever since.  Being able to make a difference in a rural and small community means everything to me.  I do that every day in this career and I wouldn’t want to do anything else.     

What is your favorite librarian tool? 

I would have to say “borrowing” ideas from other libraries across the country and adapting them to meet the needs of the community I serve.  This is a favorite tool used by every librarian I know.  It gets exciting when other libraries start “borrowing” from your library!  This is when you know that you are doing something right!  

What do you think are the most important challenges that librarians face? 

Hands down it would be lack of funding, especially in rural and small libraries that work regularly with a small budget and have to learn to be creative to make that budget stretch.  Their communities deserve quality programs, collections, and services just like the bigger libraries with bigger budgets do.   

Another challenge would be lack of space and lack of staff.  Many rural and small libraries rely on volunteers to help them run the library.  This includes facilitating programs as well as just checking books out to patrons.  Communities rely on their local libraries for access to all different kinds of information, it is difficult at times when you lack the capacity to deliver these much needed services. 

Please tell us about an interaction with a library user that gave you a lot of satisfaction. 

My favorite all time experience was when I was the Director at the Huachuca City Public Library in southern Arizona and I had an older gentleman come in looking for assistance on the computer.  He was not at all familiar with how computers worked and he wanted to set up a profile on a dating site!  He was lonely, had lost his wife a few years before and really wanted companionship.  I helped him set up his profile complete with a picture and within a few weeks, he found a companion!  They met up and eventually married.  It was really a happy day when he brought in his new bride to introduce her to me!  I have to mention that this gentleman was 83 years young!  My favorite experience that I will always cherish and remember. 

 

Yamila M. El-Khayat, MA serves as Communications and Citizen Science Specialist at NNLM (Network of the National Library of Medicine) Region 4. She has a passion for health information and working with all communities in particular traditionally marginalized communities. Yamila is a medical librarian at the University of Arizona. In working as a Librarian, she has been determined to increase health literacy to better serve the needs of the Latino and Native American populations, improving access to information related to the health of Native American, Hispanic, Border, Evidence-based, intercultural, bilingual, and culturally appropriate. She has experience training information for clinicians, students, and community members, including health promoters/ “Promotores de Salud”.