by The Evergreen Outreach Committee is pleased to announce that the Community Spotlight for the first quarter of 2022 is Katie Greenleaf Martin. Katie is the newly-appointed Executive Director of Pennsylvania Integrated Library System (PaILS) which oversees the Pennsylvania SPARK Evergreen consortium. Prior to her appointment, Katie worked with several SPARK libraries, facilitating Evergreen migrations.
“Migrations are my favorite way to contribute to the [Evergreen] community,” Katie says. “A great combination of data skills and assessing the needs of the organization. My goal for PaILS is to help SPARK libraries see how the consortium and open-source software can help them improve library service for patrons across Pennsylvania.”
Katie has been using open source software in her personal life since high school. “My first install was actually Slackware with Enlightenment circa 2000!” she says. She still uses Mint at home – which she likes because it’s low-maintenance and friendly with peripherals.
Katie’s work with Evergreen began in 2012 when she worked at Florence County Library, a member of SCLENDS, and she joined the staff of Blair County (PA) Libraries in 2015. Her early interactions with Evergreen were focused on working with local library staff. Katie says, “My role was really informed by the needs of local libraries and finding ways to use the ILS to do things that they could not otherwise do – things like sharing items across libraries without staff intervention.”
Katie currently serves on the Evergreen Project Board and is also chair of the member-based group Evergreen Community Development Initiative. “Getting to use my nonprofit management experience to (hopefully) benefit these organizations is pretty cool,” Katie says.
The SPARK consortium actively encourages its members to participate in local committees as a way to get familiar with Evergreen. From there, Katie says, members are encouraged to participate in Evergreen community listservs, attend conferences, and contribute documentation.
When she’s not working towards a bright future for Evergreen and SPARK, Katie enjoys the outdoors year-round whether it’s kayaking, sailing, or cross-country skiing. She also serves on the boards of her local sailing club and county nature park. Katie also has an 8-year-old at home, “So if anyone has any Minecraft tips I’m all ears!”
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Do you know someone in the community who deserves a bit of extra recognition? Please use this form to submit your nominations. We ask for your email in case we have any questions, but all nominations will be kept confidential. Any questions can be directed to the Outreach Committee at evergreen-outreach@list.evergreen-ils.org.