As someone with many passions and interests, I would definitely say that I am a “lifelong learner!” I am also a true library lover from when I was a little Bolivian immigrant girl! In fact, as a single parent of four children, I’ve found the Library is a phenomenal resource for our entire family. We have all taken part in such wonderful programs over many years. My 23-year-old son Luis, now a senior in college, was in the PPL’s first Cradle to Crayons program when he was just a toddler. My younger children have participated in various classes and family learning programs ranging from papermaking, to culinary arts, to robotics and coding workshops. Personally, I can say that the three free technology classes in coding and data analysis (Rhode Coders and Data Navigators) that I completed over the course of 30 weeks about two years ago provided me invaluable skills that piqued my interest to pursue additional courses and trainings.
Following these Library classes, I began in my current job as Director of Social Programs at Progreso Latino (where I had worked 20 years ago as the Youth Program Director). Because of what I learned, I felt comfortable taking on the responsibility of our agency’s communications, including the development of a new website and the various social media accounts. Since then, I have even been back to PPL for the Small Business Workshop series with RI SCORE. These classes have opened up a whole new world and led to other training opportunities!
I cannot stress how committed the Library staff is to ensuring the advancement of the participants in their classes. They are supportive, responsive and highly professional. We are living in a time when basic expenses continue to increase, but not wages. The PPL programs are part of an economic development solution to help families, in particular, low-income families.
My family and I love Providence Public Library and we will be lifelong patrons. We truly believe the words of Doug Wilhelm apply to the PPL, “a library is a house of hope. It’s a place where we all, whatever our situation, can feed our ideas and develop our dreams.”