Meet the Library Staff – Ellie Anderson, Head of Adult Services, Ashland Branch

Ellie Anderson joined the JCLS staff as head of Ashland Library Adult Services in October.

Ellie Anderson

Ellie grew up in Maui, Hawaii, received her BA in English and theater from Oberlin College, and her MLIS from Rutgers. Much of her library career has been in California, from Teen Services in South San Francisco to Children’s Services in San Mateo County, to Youth, Reference and Outreach Services Manager at Monterey Public Library.

After more than a decade in the San Francisco Bay area, she and her husband were both ready for life in a smaller community, especially one with Ashland’s cycle of seasons. She remembers that “ watching my little boys see snow fall for the first time and tulips peek out of the earth was delightful.”

AS a JCLS newbie, Ellie is “impressed by the caliber of the staff and how they prioritize working together and supporting each other. I’m also very pleased to be part of an organization with a strong commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion. It takes work and intentionality to truly be a public institution that is open and welcoming to everyone in a community, even and especially marginalized populations, and JCLS is doing that work.”

Ellie is developing ways to make the library’s collection even more appealing and easy to use and to highlight smaller collection areas that can sometimes be overlooked. She is also looking forward to working with Adult Services staff to expand the variety of library programs and connections.

In addition to reading, Ellie enjoys baking and getting into nature, and calls herself “a middling but enthusiastic container gardener.” Right now, she is reading The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes, a novel based on the real-life Packhorse Librarians who brought reading material to people in remote areas of the Kentucky mountains during the Depression.

Welcome, Ellie!