Jill Abood Receives Director's Award

I’m thrilled to inform you that I’ve given the Director’s Award for December to Jill Abood, our Community Engagement Specialist. Jill has worked in a number of positions for CADL, but she truly excels in her current position. Her goal is to make the library accessible for all members of our communities. She does this through attending meetings with community partners, like the Immigrant and Refugee Resource Collaborative (IRRC), being the lead person on system-wide initiatives like the 2020 Census Complete Count, and offering engaging programs like the “Reel Deal Virtual Film Club”. In 2020, she also did so much for small businesses and those who were unemployed or applying for new jobs. She took the lead in applying for and receiving a grant through ALA, PLA and the Grow with Google initiative which led to CADL staff developing two 4-week eCommerce Workshops for small businesses in our area. She also, along with Courtney Tang, started the Workforce Development Group where staff help members with their resumes and applications. For those of you who help with this group, you know the work that Jill does in handling and assigning the incoming requests.

All of what I listed above is only a small portion of what Jill has done in 2020. She also started our citizenship classes and most recently an anti-racist book group for young people. I could go on and on about the fantastic work that Jill does so that all members of our communities see themselves in our library. Along with all of this, Jill is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. She’s dedicated to making our library and our communities a better place. Thank you so much for all that you do Jill!

Scott Duimstra, CADL Executive Director