Volunteer Spotlight: Betsy Gilbert

Digital Literacy welcomed Betsy to the team in March of 2020. Just as she was about to start her first volunteer shift at the Monroe Branch Library, the coronavirus hit and changed everything. That is when she became a Live Chat agent for Digital Literacy. AS our community is slowly beginning to reopen, you can find Betsy teaching our new Resume Building and Interview Etiquette classes that just launched this November.
Betsy retired from a 40-year career as a librarian in May 2019, with her final job as the Director of the Fairport Public Library. Within 30 of those 40 years, Betsy worked in Monroe County, including 12 years at the Rochester Central Public Library. Before that, she worked in the Dallas, TX area. Betsy is originally from Caledonia, NY but has lived in the City of Rochester for the past 30+ years.
She was aware of the services Digital Literacy provided from her work in libraries. She felt it would be a good fit for her skills after retiring since she had been helping people use computers in libraries as long as they have been available. Hiring and Interviewing is something she has done quite a bit over the years, along with some teaching. So when the opportunity arose to teach resume writing, it seemed like the right move for her to use her skills and help others. Betsy is very excited to have the opportunity to teach these classes and has been checking out different books from the library to refresh her knowledge in this area.
Betsy has achieved her BA from SUNY Geneseo, an MLS from the University of Texas at Austin, and an MPA from SUNY Brockport. She currently serves on the boards of the Greater Rochester Teen Book Festival https://www.teenbookfest.org/ and Tiger Bark Press http://tigerbarkpress.com/. She also does some social media marketing for Tiger Bark Press. When we aren’t in the middle of a global pandemic, she is a docent at the Susan B. Anthony Museum and House https://susanb.org/.  

Many of her several hobbies include reading (of course – she was a librarian!), hiking, kayaking, playing mahjongg, gardening, and hanging out at the Carlson YMCA now that is has reopened. One of her retirement goals was to put herself in situations that were out of her comfort zone. The pandemic slowed that down a bit for her, but she is still finding plenty of opportunities to stretch her skills.  

“Always try to learn a new skill even if you think you may not be good at it”

We encourage anyone who needs assistance in Resume Building or Interview Etiquette to register for one of our classes with Betsy.

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