head Jackie Faust-Moreno has left her mark in her 28 years with the library.
Jackie was in her office preparing to return to her Hollywood home when her heart failed and she slumped over, unconscious, in her desk chair. She was rushed to for surgery to repair a blocked artery.
Initially, Jackie's shocked staff, family and friends had hope for her; after all, her health seemed otherwise good and she had been exercising more lately.
However, she never recovered, and died .
Just one year ago, the five members of the Library Board unanimously agreed to promote Jackie to the Library Director position. Jackie had demonstrated time and again that she deserved the honor.
She received her master's degree in library science from USC and joined the Arcadia Public Library as a reference librarian in 1984. She became library services manager in 2001.
While serving as library services manager, Jackie expanded the library’s Web site and launched a popular Twitter feed. She also helped develop the library's massive open-source Koha online catalog system. Jackie was passionate about theater arts, vampire novels and foreign language films; in fact, she initiated the library’s regularly-scheduled Adult Foreign Language film program.
Last year, Jackie quickly rose to the challenge of her new position as library director. She opened the auditorium to high school students in the afternoons, and oversaw the expansion and redesign of the teen area. She recently began creating a dedicated space just for middle school students in the Children's Room.
Jackie also set the wheels in motion for a complete modernization of the library's well-used auditorium, and .
No one should die young, but we can take solace in knowing that Jackie lived long enough to reach all her career goals and graced us all with her presence.
Meanwhile, the library Board of Trustees held an emergency meeting Thursday to name Library Services Manager Mary Beth Hayes as the Interim Director. The board will vote on a permanent director at its June 21 meeting.
Jackie is survived by her husband Dave, two daughters and a granddaughter. The library plans to host an ice cream social later this month in honor of what would have been her 64th birthday.
Read more by Scott Hettrick at ArcadiasBest.com.
Hettrick's City Views blog is not intended to reflect any position of the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce, where he is Executive Director.
