Kenneth Petrilli Email & Phone Number

“Welcome to the library. If you fail to find something that offends you, please ask to speak to a librarian.” As head of Technical Services at the New Rochelle Public Library I am responsible for overseeing the inflow of material into the library and in this capacity work with all our vendors, manage the library’s periodicals, work with cataloging to insure timely additions of items to the ILS, approve invoices for submission and submit statistics on a monthly basis. I oversee two Tech Services staff members.For 18 years I was the Teen Services Librarian here. In that time I worked to take Teen Services from a neglected second floor corner to a vibrant, 1700 square foot Teen Room, from a barely used collection to one of the highest circulating in the county. I ran many successful programs for those years. Pop culture and associated programs were a main area of interest. I believe that libraries can always endeavor to meet teens on their own ground and provide for their social, entertainment and cultural needs while supporting their educational and developmental needs as well. As social networking became integral to teens, I worked to make the library relevant in that area.Teen Services (and public library service in general) is about connections: whether in the everyday connection of recommending a book or conversing about the latest video game, or the lasting connection with former teens who have become friends, I had the chance to positively impact the lives of young people, and that’s as rewarding as anything can be.Collection development is a particular passion; the art of creating an array of books and materials to engage, inspire and entertain teens is incredibly satisfying, and every teen that left my library with that perfect book was a job well done. I have always been particularly interested in motivating reluctant readers, and worked to create a collection that could meet the needs of this population.I currently develop the Science Fiction and Adult Graphic Novel collections. I created the adult GN collection years ago and have grown it into one of the largest and most successful in the system. As both of these collections represent a personal passion it is satisfying to help similar readers as myself achieve that perfect checkout.I am an advocate of intellectual freedom and served ALA & YALSA in a number of IF capacities. I am a firm believer in the core neutrality of the library - we serve all in the community, whoever they may happen to be, and we provide access to information in all its potentially controversial glory.

Listed skills include Library Instruction, Collection Development, Library Science, Young Adult Literature, and 26 others.