Chapter 16, Summer 2021
Library Limelight: Gina Scioscia Monnie Nilsson
What type of work did you do prior to your years at BPL? I’ve mostly worked in bookselling. As a teen, I worked in my parents' bookstore, later in my college bookstore and several corporate bookstores. My husband and I owned a used bookstore for many years. We even had a bookmobile! I had a brief stint as a Montessori teacher and café manager, but mostly selfemployed.
Gina at her workshop getting ready to rough sand the orrery bases. Photo courtesy of Gina Scioscia
How long have you worked at the Boulder Public Library? What positions have you held at BPL, and how did you come to work here? I’ve worked here since September 2001, 20 years this September. I started as a Reference Specialist in the Reference department with 15 other staff. I also held an interim systems administrator position in 2012 for just over a year while they were hiring that position and loved that. That same year I was hired as Librarian II to manage electronic database subscriptions. After the re-organization several years ago, I began managing the eCollections (OverDrive, hoopla and Kanopy) and periodicals. I came to the library happenstance, looking for work to supplement our family business. When I saw the job description for the Reference Specialist, it really appealed to me, and I absolutely fell in love with it and working for BPL.
Can you give us a brief rundown of what your daily, monthly, quarterly tasks and your typical workday generally consist of? A lot of time is spent ordering for our OverDrive collection each week. Keeping abreast of new titles, and trying to manage the ever-growing hold lists. I buy fiction, nonfiction and juvenile titles for OverDrive. I troubleshoot database issues when they crop up, or particularly thorny eCollection problems. I also do quarterly statistics for our programs, circulation of physical and electronic materials, door counts etc. These come from a lot of diverse platforms like LibCal, Sierra, multiple database and ecollection platforms, and I standardized these for the director’s quarterly report. Monthly, I run weeding reports, missing, in transit, and claims 7
