CLA President's Award

Carol Frost is the Executive Director of the Peninsula Library System, CEO of the Pacific Library Partnership, and NorthNet Library System administrator. She began her library career as a second profession, with her first librarian job at the San Bruno Library, with an emphasis of adopting new technology for both the library and the city. Moving from there to the Peninsula Library System at the IT Director, she continued to embrace new technologies for the consortium. As a Division Manager for the San Jose Public Library and the Deputy County Librarian for Santa Clara County Library District, she turned towards library operations and learned how to advocate.  Carol was recognized by the Santa Clara County Office of Education with the award “Honor for Generous Support of Community Children and Head Start and Early Start Programs.”

Carol has been on the CLA Legislative and Advocacy Committee since 2016. She has worked with the California Library Services Board, the California State Library, and the other cooperative to modify the California Library Services Act law. She believes that ideas come everyone, and that has propelled several local initiatives to become statewide projects. The Pacific Library Partnership and NorthNet Library System spearheaded the idea for the LSTA-funded Statewide Student Success Initiative, with the goal of partnering with schools for students to receive and use public library cards.

In 2022, Carol was awarded the “Library Champion” award from the California Public Library Associates for her work regarding Student Success. Working with two legislators on three different bills, SB321, the Youth Literacy Act, was passed in 2023, which expands the Student Success Initiative statewide to help all youth succeed.  As part of the Legislative and Advocacy Committee, Carol also assisted with the California Freedom to Read Act, authored by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, which protects library collections from being banned. Along with others Carol has fought tirelessly for funding for CLSA, and in 2025, energized California libraries to fight for federal funding.

And this is from Genesis Hansen, 2025 CLA President:

Carol is an advocacy powerhouse, and on top of her long-time and ongoing efforts on many different fronts, this year she took the lead on CLA’s efforts to fight for federal funding for libraries, working with our lobbyist, CLSA consortia, and members of the Leg & Advocacy committee to create effective messaging and collateral and get CLA’s message out to all of the legislators statewide.  It is my honor to award her the 2025 President’s Award.