Jennifer Weeks had been serving as Acting County Librarian
SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIF. – The County of Santa Clara has made Acting County Librarian Jennifer Weeks its official leader, effective May 18. She became the eighth County Librarian for the Santa Clara County Library District (SCCLD) in its over 100-year history, following Nancy Howe, who retired at the end of March.
“Jennifer has extensive experience developing impactful public programs and services as an executive leader, setting priorities and strategies to make the library successful and relevant in our county,” said County Executive Jeffrey V. Smith, M.D., J.D. “We are confident that she will maintain engagement in Library programs, which will have to be reinvented during the Coronavirus pandemic.”
Weeks most recently held the position of Deputy County Librarian for Organizational Development. She previous served as SCCLD’s Library Services Manager for Children’s Services, where she built up the Library District’s Summer Reading Program, launched Lunch at the Library and worked with all 13 public K-12 school districts within the Library’s territory to provide student eAccounts to all 90,000 students. Weeks began her 17-year career at SCCLD as a graduate intern.
As Acting County Librarian during the COVID-19 pandemic, Weeks has led the library staff through the crisis with confidence and clarity. In response, the Library District has transformed into a remote workforce offering virtual programs for all ages Monday-Saturday, provide live assistance by phone/email/chat 7 days a week, expanded the digital collection, and updates the website almost daily to promote the new services, programs, and resources. She is actively collaborating with various County Departments including the Public Health Department to ensure that library services return at the appropriate time with added safeguards to protect both the public and library staff. All updates will be made available on the SCCLD website at sccld.org/.
“I believe in the power of our libraries; I know that our patrons find joy and inspiration, uncover critical information, make important connections with library staff and LOVE their library,” said Weeks. “I look forward to working together with our staff, library support groups, City and County officials, and our patrons to continue to build up our excellent library system.”
The Library District has also announced additional management changes with three new Community Librarians.
Rose Baiza, Community Librarian for the Los Altos and Woodland Libraries
Rose served as the Acting County Librarian for the Los Altos and Woodland Libraries in 2020, and at the Saratoga Library in 2016-17. Previously, Rose was a Supervising Librarian in Los Altos since 2014. During this time, Rose led the Library District in developing inclusive early literacy services in partnership with the education and parent communities, as a part of her State Library Eureka! Fellowship grant.
Kelly McKean, Community Librarian for the Milpitas Library
Kelly has developed innovative programming as the Teen Services Librarian in Gilroy, planning high-profile, grant-funded technology programming, including the first-ever Gilroy Mini Maker Faire. She is also leading the effort to create a permanent maker space at the Gilroy Library. Prior to Gilroy, Kelly was a librarian at the Morgan Hill and Saratoga libraries.
Annapurna Dandu, Community Librarian for the Saratoga Library
Annapurna has worked for SCCLD for over 15 years, most recently as the Acting Community Librarian at the Saratoga Library. Prior to this, she was a Supervising Adult Librarian at the Saratoga Library where she led an astounding 85% increase in adult programming, including coordinating with the City of Saratoga on their task team to support senior residents--responding to the need for increased recreation options.
