Hello there! My name is Abby and I am the Outreach Assistant for the Adult Outreach department at BCPL. I have been in this position for about four months; however, my adventure with BCPL started four years ago in the summer of 2017 at the Scheben Branch as a Circulation Assistant. (Don’t worry, Schebenites, your goldfish is doing just fine in another tank. Miss you guys!). My favorite part about working at the Library is the people. I have genuinely met some of my favorite people in the world as part of the BCPL team, and there is nothing quite like the friendships you make at the Library! I know I will carry these friendships through the rest of my life.
I was born in Edgewood, Kentucky, but spent the better part of my childhood growing up in Hebron. I graduated in 2015 from Conner High School and was on the varsity golf team for four years. That next fall, I attended Northern Kentucky University in pursuit of a degree in History. After many articles were read and papers were written, I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in History in 2019. I hope to enroll in NKU’s Public History graduate program one day and hopefully bring my newfound knowledge back to BCPL!
While at Northern, I worked a second job as a Student Worker for the History & Geography department. The opportunity to serve the department I was graduating from was an amazing experience and brought me closer to faculty and other staff members. Having that kind of relationship with my professors created many other amazing opportunities as well, such as being the Editor for NKU’s scholarly journal, Perspectives in History. During my time there, I also published two articles in this journal: “LGBTQ+ Persecution during the Era of Nazi Germany, 1935-1942” and “The Rise and Fall of Women’s Rights in Ancient Egypt”. These are two academic accomplishments that I am immensely proud of, but when looking back, I also remember how many cups of coffee it took to finish the final drafts. Let’s just say it was a lot.
I’m not just an academic nerd, though. I’m just generally a nerd, too! Some of my favorite pastimes include playing Dungeons & Dragons, going to concerts, hanging out at the Renaissance Festival, playing video games, and watching Marvel and Star Wars movies. I’ve been playing D&D for roughly five years, and I currently play every Wednesday night online with a bunch of my friends that live in Canada! In the past ten years, I’ve been to fifteen concerts; some of the best memories I have with my friends have been experiencing live music together. There is something so special about seeing your favorite artists or bands with your best friends, in a giant room full of people that love music as much as you do.
While my academic career and my hobbies have helped shape who I am, my family has been my greatest pillar of support throughout my life. I live with my mom and my grandparents, and while living with your grandparents may not be the norm, I cherish the extra time that I get to spend with them and I’ve enjoyed being there for them whenever they need a little bit of extra help. Now, and while I was at Scheben, I always make sure my grandma has all the books she could ever want, and she is always so excited whenever I come home from work with something new.
I think that’s why I’ve loved working in Outreach so much because I know firsthand how elated our adult patrons are when we bring them something new. It means a lot to individuals that otherwise could not get to the Library to have the Library brought to them instead. It is incredibly rewarding to deliver a bit of joy to our homebound patrons with something as simple as fresh, new reading materials. BCPL provides so many services for people that would otherwise go without, and it feels good to be a part of a system that helps every type of person in our community.