By Anthony Stanford –
Full-circle career paths can be interesting, challenging, and very fulfilling. That is certainly the case for the Aurora Public Library (APL) senior manager of children’s services, Dana Russell, whose career has come full circle. She started her career working at APL in the early 1990s in what was then called the Young People’s Department (YPD) prior to leaving to pursue her master’s degree. After a productive career as a librarian, she recently returned to lead APL’s Children’s Services Department, and her ideas are matched only by her passion.
Surrounded by the vibrant decor and against the background of children’s voices participating in activities, an exuberant Dana Russell talked about her journey, and described her career and return to APL, the place where it all started. She said, “I started my library career at Aurora Public Library in the mid-1990s. I worked part-time at Eola Road and eventually moved full time to YPD. I earned my master’s in library and information sciences while working in YPD, and when I received my degree, I accepted a position as assistant manager of Youth Services at Bartlett Public Library in December 2003 and was there for approximately four years. Then in October of 2007, I accepted the youth services manager position at New Lenox Public Library and was there for just over 10 years before moving back to APL.”
Although she returned to APL only several weeks ago, Dana’s full-circle perspective is an obvious plus for the Children’s Services Department. As an APL senior manager, she is concentrating on developing wide-ranging strategies that include serving customers from birth through fifth grade at the Santori, Eola Road, and West Branch locations.
“I would like to continue the good work that has already been started here. We will continue to focus on ways to help children succeed in school through early literacy programs and activities up through programs and services that would continue to engage elementary-age children,” she said.
Dana understands the significance that planning and taking requisite time can have on achieving long- and short-term initiatives. She summed it up by emphasizing that “having just started, I will be spending time learning in depth what we are doing, what we have done, and where we would specifically like to go moving forward.”
Anthony Stanford is an author and Aurora Public Library Media Consultant.