Alicia Byrd
Alicia Byrd lives in Portland, Oregon and works as a Library Outreach Specialist at the Multnomah County Library. She holds a BS in Political Science from Portland State University.
As a former teacher, community resource developer and after school programmer, she is comfortable working in racially and socioeconomically diverse communities. In her current position she has increased services and library visibility to the local African American community, Gay/Lesbian community, homeless populations, and more. Since she began working at Multnomah County Library, the number of African American employees has increased, collections are more diverse and more underserved communities are receiving library service.
In 2014, she became the first person ever to receive the Multnomah County Employee Recognition Committee Choice Award " to honor county employees whose accomplishments fall outside the parameters of the existing employee recognition awards nomination categories."
She looks forward to Project IDOL so she can serve as a role model and information resource for the countless African American boys and girls growing up in a majority white environment. She wants to do the same for white children unaccustomed to seeing non-white people in leadership roles. She is excited that IDOL creates a learning environment where the intersection of underrepresented populations and librarianship are openly explored. In addition, IDOL provides her an opportunity to explore the influence of technology on traditional library service, the digital preservation of print and other materials and the ever increasing role of urban librarianship.
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