Hello everyone! My name is Gabrielle and I am a graduate student at UCLA. I am studying to obtain my Master’s degree in Library and Information Science, and my goal is to become a public librarian and give back to my community. From a young age, I have always loved libraries. This love was fostered by my grandmother who always brought me to the library’s programming events and encouraged my love of reading and writing. As I grew older, I began volunteering at my local library and created outreach events for my community. Some of these events included story times for young readers, and a free technology assistance day to any patron of the library who needed help using their phones, computers, cameras, and more. I continued to work in libraries at Loyola Marymount University, where I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Art History in May 2022. At LMU’s on campus library, I was a Student Manager for the Circulation Desk and a Student Assistant in their Archives and Special Collections department.
My passion for education, learning, and assisting my community made me want to become a librarian. My current goal is to become a children’s librarian at a public library in Los Angeles. I would love to work with special needs children and create library programming specifically tailored to them. My goal is to show that libraries are a place of community that should be enjoyed by all, and I intend to follow through with that goal in my career. I want to not only share my own love of reading and storytelling, but also teach parents how important early literacy is for their children. I would also love to connect more with elderly patrons of the library to foster more of a community and a place for them to relate with others. I plan to do this through book clubs and other social events.
As a first generation graduate student, there were many challenges that I overcame to attend UCLA. My biggest challenge is, of course, financial. I commute approximately 40 miles a day to attend UCLA 5 times a week. If you would be able to donate anything for my gas and parking pass expenses, that would be a great help. Thank you so much for reading my story, and thank you in advance for any contribution.