BIO

Sarah French (she/her) is the Assistant Director of the Whitewater Public Library where she serves as the public services supervisor and adult reference librarian. She has worked in public libraries since 2017 in a variety of roles, including youth services, programming, and makerspaces. She holds a B.A. in Art from UW-Whitewater and an MLIS from UW-Milwaukee. Sarah is committed to providing equitable and educational materials, programs, and services to people of all ages, using literacy, knowledge, and curiosity as a means to create positive and meaningful library experiences. 

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• Building Committee for the Whitewater Public Library's Expansion and Renovation Project (2024-2025).

• Teaching Makerspace Magic – Plan and Design Your Library’s Makerspace at the UW-Madison iSchool Continuing Education program (2024-2025).

• Presented "Every Child is an Artist: Process Art in the Library" at the 2023 Wisconsin Library Association Conference with Tiffany Helgerson from Monona Public Library. 

• Hosted an LGBTQ+ Teen movie night that was challenged but was not cancelled (2023)

• Developed a land acknowledgement statement and action plan to support Indigenous peoples for the Whitewater Public Library with the library board, local community, and tribal members (2022-2024)

• Revamped programming and events at the Whitewater Public Library for youth, teen, adult, and intergenerational audiences (2022-2024)

• Completed an extensive collection development project for the Juvenile and YA collections at Community Library, Salem, WI (2021)

• Completed the Project READY: Reimagining Equity & Access for Diverse Youth curriculum (2019-2020)

• Completed a diversity audit of books used during storytime (2019-2020)

• Started a new program, Music & Movement Storytime, at the Beloit Public Library (2019)

• Attended the 2019 Youth Services Development Institute (DPI Grant)