Women Leaders … with Kelly Barbazette: Immigrant librarian builds love of books, learning in local children
“The first time I visited the library was when I first came to the U.S. when I was 16.”
Photo courtesy Gilroy Library
Children’s Supervising Librarian Elizabeth Muñoz-Rosas in the Gilroy Library.
By Kelly Barbazette
Kelly Barbazette
One of Gilroy Children’s Supervising Librarian Elizabeth Muñoz-Rosas’ most prized possessions is her first library card. She received it when she was 16 years old, just a few months after she and her family moved to the United States from Mexico.
“It changed my life,” said Muñoz-Rosas, 43. “I have benefitted from the library since I walked in from day one. I think if they hadn’t provided free resources, I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish my goals. I think my library card was my passport.”
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Muñoz-Rosas about how her early exposure to the library ultimately carved her path to become a librarian and led to her passion for helping to strengthen families through literacy.
Muñoz-Rosas, who has worked for the Gilroy Library for the past 12 years, is one of two Bay Area librarians who have been recognized with the Movers & Shakers Award by the literary publication Library Journal. The honor highlights 50 individuals who are advocates, community builders, change agents, innovators, educators and “ban battlers” who help move library work forward. Last year, she was recognized as a Top 10 Outstanding Employee of the Year for Santa Clara County.
Born in Guanajuato, Mexico, Muñoz-Rosas’s grandparents, uncles, and father came to the U.S. as farmworkers. Their access to books during her childhood in Mexico was limited.
“The first time I visited the library was when I first came to the U.S. when I was 16,” she remembers. As a high school junior in 1997, she would frequent the nearby public library after school.
“For me it was an unknown world. Free books? I don’t have to pay to come in?” she said.
She became fluent in English and passed the entry exam for San Jose State University, where she earned her bachelor of arts degree in child and adolescent development, concentrating in education with a minor in linguistics in 2005. She changed her major after working as a library assistant at SJSU’s Cultural Heritage Center. There, her life dream changed when she met Jeff Paul, former Center director and retired SJSU professor.
“My dream was to be an accountant. But then he told me that, ‘Your demeanor and eagerness to teach others and the way you conduct yourself when helping others. I think you’re meant to be a librarian,’” Muñoz-Rosas recalls.
She reached out to an elementary school across the street and hosted her first class visit showing how the books at the library reflected their stories.
She earned a Spectrum Scholarship from the American Library Association, which awards scholarships to students of color to assist them in obtaining graduate degrees in library services. “I was blessed that they paid for my schooling,” she said.
In 2007, she earned her master’s degree in library and information science from SJSU. She went onto work as a librarian at the Campbell and San Jose libraries before becoming in 2011 the lead Spanish languages services Librarian at the Marin County Free Library.
“When they finally built this library (in Gilroy) I applied,” she said.
The Gilroy Library hired her as the adult services librarian. Soon, she shifted to children’s services librarian when she was asked to assist in the children’s department. She has worked in that position for the past year.
Muñoz-Rosas believes literacy, appreciating literature, and excitement about reading is vital to the success of the entire family.
“It’s really rewarding to see the parents attend the ESL classes, and the kids come to story time, and they bring the whole family,” she said. “Kids are the right path for the whole family to bring about that change.”
She has witnessed how reading has the ripple effect of enriching lives. It makes her want to help pass on the “wealth of literature” to young people, something she didn’t possess as a child. She also enjoys educating library patrons about all the resources the library has beyond books, from museum and park passes to movies and helping translate difficult to understand documents.
“She’s just a great conduit, a catalyst for change,” said Cassandra Wong, Gilroy community librarian. “The community here trusts her because we’re community building. Elizabeth is so skilled at that. She creates trust and builds on that trust.”
Muñoz-Roses moved to Gilroy from San Jose two years ago. She and her husband, who works in San Mateo, have three children — a 10-year-old son, and two daughters, ages 7 and 1.
Most recently, to encourage healthy play she has created “enchanted spaces” in the children’s area. She has also helped initiate monthly pop-up visits to Gilroy elementary schools and middle schools where students can check out library books or take home free books. When she’s not at the library, she enjoys spending time with her family or simply grabbing a cup of coffee and reading.
Asked what advice she’d give to other women pursuing their goals, Muñoz-Rosas said she’d encourage them to be whatever they wanted to be, just as her mother taught her.
“Regardless of your dreams, if you put your mind to it, you can do it. Surround yourself with resources and people that elevate you,” she said. “As a woman of color, there’s an additional layer of minor obstacles, so have that vision that they are simply minor obstacles, they don’t determine your future.”
She’s also mindful of trying to balance family and career.
“As women, we are asked to give up opportunities because of family,” she said. “When the time is right, the right opportunity will present itself. And most of all enjoy the journey.”
Kelly Barbazette is a freelance writer who has lived in Gilroy for more than 20 years.
