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Greenburgh Public Library Blog

New Faces: Michelle Magnotta

by Christina Ryan-Linder on 2019-12-02T10:00:00-05:00 | 0 Comments

Michelle Magnotta is the newest face at Greenburgh Public Library. She will be overseeing ESOL and Citizenship programs and continuing the much loved Spanish Conversation Group, Italian Conversation Group and French Conversation Group. In the New Year Michelle will also be starting new programs for speakers of all languages. Read on and get to know Michelle!

Michelle graduated with her MLIS in 2015 and worked at Mamaroneck Library for several years in the Youth Services department. She has always had a passion for and worked with new language learners and Spanish speakers.

“I started learning Spanish in middle school and loved the language so much I decided to major in Spanish in college. I went to Iona for undergrad and graduated with a BA in Spanish Language and Literature. I really had no idea what I was going to do but I wanted to be fluent in Spanish and knew I didn’t want to be a teacher. I tried an online course at NYU, a program for translators, and it was not what I thought it was going to be and was back at square one. I then looked for jobs anywhere. I was working for a dentist office in New Rochelle and they needed a Spanish speaking receptionist. Again this was not for me. Then I started taking the Webs courses, a career counseling service, at the Larchmont Library. I met with a life coach with people that wanted to change careers, get back into the work force and other life altering issues. One of the people in the group said to me that I had librarian written all over me.  I didn’t take this as an insult, it actually set me on my path. After I quit my job at the dentist I went into the Mamaroneck Library and spoke with the head of Circulation. She said she had an opening and asked if I wanted to apply. Since this position was part-time (and other employees at Mamaroneck encouraged me) I decided to go to library school too. I worked at Mamaroneck from 2013-2015 and went to school simultaneously. I was still part-time after I graduated and became a librarian trainee. Mamaroneck finally had a full-time opening in 2016 in the Children’s Department. I was finally able to use both degrees; practicing librarianship and creating Spanish speaking programs for children and families. However, I wanted to use my Spanish more and started to look for a library position where I could do that. The position at Greenburgh came up and became the right fit.”

Michelle has only been here at GPL a few weeks but is already diving into programs and other areas to help bridge the gap between our new language learners and the resources Greenburgh Public Library has to offer.

Besides keeping up with the Spanish population and programs, Michelle also loves to read. She has a passion for Romance, Mysteries and Memoirs and YA literature. Here she shares some of her favorite authors.

“My favorite author of all time is Sarah Dessen (Keeping the Moon). I met her twice! The first time I met her, I dragged all of the books she'd ever written down to her book signing in the city and she signed and personalized every one! I also really love James Patterson (Women's Murder Club series), Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum series), Lisa Scottoline (After Anna), April Henry (Girl, Stolen series) and Colleen Hoover (Slammed series). I love to read books by Pam Muñoz Ryan (Esperanza Rising/Esperanza Renace), Esmeralda Santiago (When I Was Puerto Rican/Cuando Era Puertoriqueña) and Duncan Tonatiuh (Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin/Dear Primo: Una carta para ti) in Spanish.” 


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