Board Candidate

Locally, we know our libraries are only as strong as the relationships we build. The same is true for CLA. We know our value, but there is still much to be done to make our case – in our communities, across the State and at the Capitol.

As an organization, we need to do more to offer every library worker the opportunity to connect with CLA and share their skills, talents and ideas. One of the ways I have been involved with CLA is by participating in committees and serving as an active member of interest groups.  With the help of colleagues, I brought back the resume review and practice interviews at the annual conference. That experience put me in contact with many new members who came away with an improved resume or some great interview insights and a deeply personal sense of what CLA membership could do for them. Unfortunately, for many library workers, CLA membership is an expensive proposition not always financially supported by their employer.

If elected, I would explore:

• Finding ways to increase revenue and make our membership and event fees more manageable for members and potential members
• Increasing awareness of CLA’s value through enhanced communication both within the library community and with those important stakeholders and decision makers both locally and at the State level.
• Providing enhanced platforms for library workers, of all types of libraries, to interact and impact the work of CLA

Biography

Heather Cousin is the Library Services Director for the Thousand Oaks Library.  She has over 15 years’ experience working in public libraries, having done every job from Page to Director. From her earliest days in Children’s and Youth Services, Cousin has made connecting the library with the community her primary focus.  She has forged partnerships with school districts, recreation and parks districts, historical societies, arts organizations and the business communities in which she’s served. Those partnerships, in turn, brought a wealth of new and diverse opportunities for the library and the communities they served.  As a result of these partnerships, Cousin and her staff established a local history archive, a monthly concert series featuring local talent and provided programming for children and families staying in domestic violence shelters.