may 19, 2025
Alessandra Affinito, Librarian, tells me…
“I run the Youth Services department at the George Latimer Central Library, one of Saint Paul Public Library’s 14 locations. This means everything from organizing puppet shows in our historic stage, to visiting preschools with my ukulele, to working with amazing partners like the Science Museum or Children's Museum to offer opportunities for families to learn, connect and grow downtown.
My team is made up of incredible Children and Teen Specialists who help design and deliver programs year-round and maintain our extensive collection of books and resources. Our big upcoming event is Summer Spark and Summer Programming, which will be June 1- August 30.
For more information on Summer Spark visit https://sppl.org/summer/
Something I really appreciate about our community is the dedication our patrons have to sharing their voice and advocating for what they want to see downtown. A large part of what we do at the library is shape our services to match the changing needs of our community, and it helps when we’re able to engage in consistent, honest feedback.
One example (of this) would be the creation of our ‘Tell the Phone’ booth, where we repurposed a defunct pay phone into a cozy reading nook where kids can share their feelings or have a quiet moment. This was born out of us seeing and hearing from families that they sometimes felt intimidated by the library space and size.
We want to create more areas where patrons can have intimate interactions with our collections even in such a large, historic building.
Something I hear over and over is ‘I didn’t know the library did that!’ or ‘I didn’t know I could come in here!’ and I feel that could apply to all of Downtown Saint Paul. We are doing incredible work and offering some amazing events, but I want to build a sense of ownership and belonging in our spaces (for others)."
Looking ahead:
“Going back to the concept of belonging, I see a future where there is more everyday life happening in downtown Saint Paul. Things like folks jogging on the riverside, grabbing a coffee with friends at a local spot, exploring our spaces before an evening event.
My role in that is to provide a free, welcoming space for people to experience something new like a 3-d printing class (below), research the history of their neighborhood, or just chill out and escape into a story.”
When asked about what she enjoys about Downtown, “I love the Union Depot Farmer’s Market. In the summer I love going in before work and planning out what to cook during the week based on what looks fresh, and grabbing a little treat! It would be so fun to do a storytime there!”
