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Columbus City Schools Early Childhood Supervisor Leads Worthington Libraries as Board President
Feb. 19, 2020 -- In just about every community nationwide, the local library is the cornerstone of the community. Just ask Columbus City Schools Early Childhood Education Supervisor Rochelle Wilkerson.
“Our mission is to connect people to a world of ideas and to each other,” she says.
And connecting people is what Wilkerson is all about in her role as the 2020 Board President of the Worthington Libraries Board of Trustees. She is the first African-American female to lead the Board, having been recommended by the Worthington Board of Education to fill the unexpired term of trustee Zita Hunt in 2016.
As an educator, Wilkerson relied on public libraries to provide books and resources to support student achievement in the classroom. As an undergraduate and graduate student, she spent countless hours in the library researching articles and scholarly texts to support her own educational goals. However, it’s been through her service to the Worthington Libraries Board, that she’s seen the countless ways libraries support the needs of its communities, especially marginalized groups.
“Our libraries serve as a community gathering place, an access point to information, art, and technology and as a partner to our local schools. It's important to me to ensure the Library acknowledges the needs of all members of our community. As these needs evolve and our community becomes increasingly diverse, libraries need to continue to be responsive and align services with their communities. It is my hope my service to the Board will inspire others to begin to see the libraries as a platform for learning, creativity, and innovation."
Worthington Libraries was named one of Columbus' National Number Ones, a list generated each year by the Columbus Foundation, based on achievements by industry peers. The selection was due to Libraries' status as a Five-Star Library. Out of more than 7,000 libraries that are evaluated annually, Worthington Libraries is one of only eight libraries in the country to have received a five-star rating in every Index of Public Library Service published by Library Journal.