Receives California Library Association's 2017 Young Adult Services Award
SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIF. – August 1, 2017 – Cupertino Library, one of Santa Clara County Library District’s (SCCLD) seven community libraries, is known for offering progressive programs and resources to library patrons. Serving as the hub for many community activities for people of all ages, the library was recently recognized for its innovative programs developed specifically for teen audiences. Presented by the California Library Association (CLA), Cupertino Teen Librarian, Matthew Lorenzo, was awarded the prestigious CLA 2017 Young Adult Services Award for his service and dedication to providing exceptional programs and events for Cupertino’s teen community. Lorenzo will receive his award at the CLA annual conference on November 3, 2017 in Riverside, CA.
“We feel very fortunate to have Matt Lorenzo as our Teen Services librarian at Cupertino Library. Engaging our community’s teens is a daunting task, and Matt’s programs have been creative, on-trend, appealing and extremely successful. It is his continued interest in developing not just teen library users, but teen library users who have a stake and say in their library and in their community, which has been truly impactful and inspiring. Cupertino Library’s Teen Program offers some of our most sought-after events, ” stated Cupertino Community Librarian, Clare Varesio.
Known for his resourceful and inventive ways to generate programs specifically geared to teen interests, Lorenzo has been a critical part in building and developing the popular Teen Services department at SCCLD’s Cupertino Library. Understanding and actively creating appealing and original programs that keep teens and preteens engaged is evident in the success of several large-scale, teen-centered projects where he served as the lead developer. CU Hacks, the first overnight hackathon for teenagers in a public library venue, is now in its third year of operation with spots filling up within hours. Additional programs spearheaded by Lorenzo include: SCCLD’s Woodland Branch’s book club for teen guys “Book Dudes;” and Cupertino Library’s Green Teen Garden Project, a hands-on program that fosters teenagers’ gardening skills with all vegetables grown donated to people in need within the Cupertino community.
Prior to working as a Teen Services Librarian, Lorenzo was a teacher and taught in both elementary and high school classrooms. He received his Master’s in Library and Information Services (MLIS) from the University of Pittsburgh and has served as the President of the Bay Area Young Adult Librarians Association (BAYA), is a published writer for the Voice Of Youth Advocates (VOYA) magazine, and is a featured speaker in Library Journal’s professional development course, “Coding Program Workshop.” Many of his teen programs have been featured in both Library Journal and School Library Journal. In 2015, Lorenzo received SCCLD’s “Employee Excellence Award” and Santa Clara County’s “Outstanding Employee of the Year Award”.
About the Santa Clara County Library District
The Santa Clara County Library District (SCCLD) promotes knowledge, ideas, and cultural enrichment. Its collection includes more than 1.9 million books, videos, CDs, DVDs, audiobooks, eBooks and extensive online resources accessible from home or work.
In 2014, SCCLD celebrated one hundred years of service to local residents. For the last several years, SCCLD has been consistently recognized as one of America’s Star Libraries by Library Journal. In 2016, SCCLD was ranked among the top ten large libraries in the United States in the Library Journal Index of Public Library Service. In 2014 and 2015, SCCLD won Innovator Awards from the Urban Libraries Council.
The Santa Clara County Library District includes two bookmobiles, an online library, seven community libraries and one branch library serving Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Saratoga and the unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County. In 2016, the Santa Clara County Library District had more than 270,000 library cardholders and welcomed 3.3 million visitors who borrowed 9.1 million items.
Contact:
Nancy Howe/Diane Roche/Lili Smith
Santa Clara County Library District
(408) 293-2326 ext. 3001/3080/3014
