People We Meet: Lucy Chiem is the kind of librarian who likes surprises

"She does this carefully, tetris-ing the books in between each other to pack the maximum number of books into each box. The books, which have titles like Two Tribes and The Pirate and the Porcelain Girl, are being sent to local middle schools. Chiem is a Youth Services Librarian in Bayview. She got introduced to libraries thanks to her grandmother, who immigrated from Vietnam to the United States in the late '70s."

"Chiem eventually majored in Anthropology at UC Irvine, but slowly but surely, libraries pulled her back in. "I thought I wanted to get into archiving for history museums, you know, oral history," she said. Chiem worked for the city of San Jose, and the city of Palo Alto, doing projects where she partnered with public libraries. Soon enough though, she realized she wanted to become a librarian. She promptly enrolled in a library science program at San Jose State."

"One of the best things about libraries, says Chiem, is that they're free. The hard part is getting people to realize that all the freeness is for them. Outreach at schools and neighborhoods, says Chiem, is key. The branch partners with local community organizers and institutions to engage people who might not have ever visited a library before. They 've partnered with SFUSD to host reading programs, like Summer Stride, and the Department of Early Childhood Services to host professional development workshops for preschool educators."

Lucy Chiem is a Youth Services Librarian in Bayview who prepares and distributes paperback books to local middle schools. Her grandmother immigrated from Vietnam in the late 1970s and introduced Chiem to libraries through ESL classes at a local Anaheim library. Chiem majored in Anthropology at UC Irvine, worked on archival and public projects with San Jose and Palo Alto, and then enrolled in a library science program at San Jose State. Chiem emphasizes that libraries are free and focuses on outreach in schools and neighborhoods through partnerships and youth-centered events and workshops.

Read at Mission Local