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Cynthia M. Parkhill:
My name is Cynthia Parkhill, and I am a Library Generalist (working in youth services, circulation, outreach, technical services, collection development, and collection maintenance). I identify as non-binary and authorize “any” pronouns when people refer to me.
I am studying Library and Information Science via online courses through the University of Central Missouri. In my day-to-day work in a library, I’ve been able to directly apply the values, ethics, and professional guidelines that I learned about through my studies.
My academic interests include Critical Autism Studies, which center the perspectives of autistic researchers and challenge a deficit-based medical view of autism. My extracurricular activities include creating an online book club for my fellow LIS students and serving as Social Media Coordinator for our LIS student group.
My prior schooling toward librarianship was an Associate’s degree in Library and Information Technology through Cuesta College, part of the California Community College system. I’ve also pursued training outside of academia from a variety of sources: including the American Library Association and Library Juice Academy.
I have a Bachelor’s degree in English from Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, California. I worked for a semester doing book repair at the SSU library, but budget cuts eliminated my position.
I got my start in libraries as a volunteer shelver at my public library.
I currently work at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts in Santa Rosa, California, where I divide my time between three part-time assignments. I’m an Elementary Library Technician, a Secondary Library Technician (reclassified in July 2023 from an Instructional Materials Technician), and a Recess Supervisor.
One of the values that holds a special relevance for me is the importance of building diverse library collections that speak to a variety of perspectives. Being autistic and queer, I haven’t always had access to books that mirrored these perspectives. As an autistic person, especially, I haven’t always felt as though the library profession was welcoming to me.
COVID-19 had a big impact on how I approach librarianship. When schools and libraries shut down in March 2020, I channeled a lot of energy into making informational videos, as well as producing read-alouds to support my school community. When our schools reopened, I continued producing read-aloud and informational videos.
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