Public librarian and public policy researcher — bringing branch-level library practice and quantitative funding research into the same career.
About
I have served the parish of East Baton Rouge since November 2012 — first as a Young Adult Library Services Technician I, and since May 2017 as a Librarian I.
In December 2023 I earned a PhD in Public Policy from Southern University and A&M College, with a quantitative dissertation on public library funding, and taught graduate policy coursework as a Student Lecturer while completing it.
My work combines branch-level supervision, programming, and reference practice with graduate-level research methods, program evaluation, and public finance. The through-line is the same question from two directions: what makes a public library valuable to the community it serves, and what makes a community willing to fund it.
Experience
Librarian I — Pride-Chaneyville Branch Library
East Baton Rouge Parish Library · Pride, LA·
Head organizer and event planner for the annual Community History Festival, averaging 350 attendees — organizational plan, committee structure, sponsor list, speaker program, and a rotating yearly theme.
Supervises and trains Library Technicians, Pages, Aides, and Clerical Specialists; acts as building supervisor in the branch head's absence.
Manages employee payroll for submission and supervises a section of a community library.
Develops and teaches computer-based classes for patrons and staff; plans workshops, public presentations, and community outreach.
Compiles monthly statistical data and the supporting anecdata shared with stakeholders during funding renewal.
Collection management, cataloging, web page design, budgeting, and program tracking.
Filmed and edited virtual Grab & Geaux programming during COVID-19 restrictions for the library website, YouTube, and social media.
Oversaw 8 special projects for the branch, including additions to the ongoing Community History Collection.
Librarian I — Delmont Gardens Branch Library
East Baton Rouge Parish Library·
Organized the Solar Eclipse Viewing Party, with 150 in attendance.
Trained staff, evaluated workflow, and delegated duties across paraprofessional and clerical roles.
Provided E-Government assistance — SNAP, social services, and unemployment benefit forms.
Assisted patrons with job applications, résumés, and cover letters using vetted sources.
Young Adult Library Services Technician I
East Baton Rouge Parish Library · Main Library / Goodwood Teen Department·
Ran teen programming and staffed the teen reference desk, providing reader's advisory and helping teens locate vetted sources for school projects.
Taught teens computer skills and guided them through library databases for tutoring, projects, and continuing education.
Conducted high school outreach with bulletin boards, resource handouts, and the bookmobile.
Studied approaches for reaching minority, disadvantaged, and previously unreached teen populations.
Student Lecturer — Nelson Mandela College of Government and Social Sciences
Southern University and A&M College·
Developed, organized, and presented lectures, class discussions, and assignments across the Executive PhD in Public Policy curriculum.
Education
PhD, Public Policy
Southern University and A&M College — Nelson Mandela College of Government and Social Sciences
December 2023
MLIS, Library and Information Science
Louisiana State University — School of Library and Information Science Major: Public Libraries · Concentration: Young Adult Services
December 2016
BA, English
Louisiana State University Concentration: Literature
December 2011
AA, Liberal Arts
Baton Rouge Community College
July 2009
Research
An Analysis of Public Library Funding: Policy Implications for Democratic and Republican Library Districts
Doctoral dissertation · Southern University and A&M College · December 2023 · Deposited in ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Advisor: Dr. Onyumbe Enumbe Ben Lukongo
A quantitative, non-experimental study surveying service populations and public officials across library districts in Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, New York, California, and Illinois, using the Creating Public Value framework and multiple linear regression in SPSS.
Findings. Participants strongly agreed that public libraries are valuable to society and that increased public funding is needed. The overall regression model was significant: those who perceived greater political-social, moral-ethical, and utilitarian-instrumental value also perceived a greater need for library funding, while an increase in political affiliation corresponded to a decrease in perceived public value.
Understanding Research: Teen Virtual Library Usability Experiment
Louisiana State University, School of Library and Information Science · Fall 2016
A true-experiment study testing whether a simpler, better-organized public library website increases usability for young adults; analyzed with MANOVA and ANOVA.
Managing Change: School Libraries' Fight to Stay Relevant
Louisiana State University, School of Library and Information Science · Summer 2016
A review of the problems facing school librarians, with management solutions.
The Shaping of Group Identity Through Religion in Chivalric Romance
Louisiana State University, Department of English · Fall 2011
A literary and historical review of Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, Spenser's The Faerie Queene, and Cervantes' Don Quijote, arguing that chivalric romance portrays religion as a vehicle for political motives.
Teaching
As a Student Lecturer in the Executive PhD in Public Policy program at Southern University, I developed and presented lectures, discussions, and assignments across the curriculum:
Quantitative Methods
Research Methods
Program Evaluation and Design
Issues of Program Implementation
Foundations of Public Policy
Political Philosophy and Social Policy
Microeconomics
Public Finance and Budgeting
Social and Political Institutions in Policy Making
Policy Analysis
Philanthropy and the Nonprofit Sector
Seminar on Issues of Race, Gender, and Equity
In the library, teaching is daily practice: computer and information-literacy classes for patrons and staff, database instruction for teens and adults, workshops and public presentations, and the reference interview itself — which is, at heart, teaching someone how to find what they need.
Service & Memberships
Professional
American Library Association (ALA) — member since 2016; conference attendee 2016–2019
Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) — member since 2016
American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) — member since 2022
Louisiana Library Association — member
Academic & Honors
Vice President, Cohort II — Southern University Executive PhD in Public Policy
Omicron Delta Kappa Honor Society (2016)
Graduate Library and Information Science Student Association (GLISSA), 2014–2016
President’s Honor Roll (Fall 2011)
LSU Alumni Association — member since 2012
Talk to Brandy
This is an AI clone of Brandy — built by Brandy, from her CV, her research, and her own words. Ask about her work as a librarian, her doctoral research on public library funding, or what a public library is for.
She answers from her CV and research — and says so when she doesn’t know.
Warming up…
AI clone — her real recorded face, lip-synced to a synthesised voice.
Contact
Open to librarian, academic library, and faculty positions in Louisiana and to remote or online teaching appointments.