Jeanne Goodrich

Jeanne has over thirty-five years’ experience in public library administration, in five western states. She started out as head of technical services for the Ft. Vancouver Regional Library in Vancouver, Washington (where she was one of the first six WLN catalogers in the world!). Her most recent library position was as Deputy Director of the Multnomah County Library in Portland, Oregon. She has been working as a library management consultant and trainer for the last eight years.

Along the way, she’s been a Deputy State Librarian (Nevada) and the director of two medium-sized public libraries. One of these libraries was in South San Francisco, California. She’s kept her connection with California libraries over the years and has enjoyed working in California through her Infopeople training and consulting work.

Throughout her career Jeanne has been interested in how libraries as organizations can continue to grow and change in order to respond to the needs their communities have and in how technology can be used to provide responsive services. As demands grow and resources remain flat or decline, accurately measuring the services libraries provide and being able to quantify the value and benefits that libraries provide is vital. The public, decision-makers, and those who provide funding demand and deserve accountability. Knowing how to measure what libraries do, quantify programs and services in terms of value and societal benefits, and talk persuasively about library services with the public, funders, and policy-makers are skills effective librarians must have.