Late last year, the librarians at Pilot Point Public Library reached out with a chance to collaborate. They wanted to offer a free workshop on résumés and job hunting, and set everyone up with s free professional headshot.

Landing a great job can be a struggle.

A polished résumé helps.

A professional headshot helps.

But frictionless access to both? That can change the trajectory of someone’s life.  Maybe even the lives of an entire family.

So, of course I said yes.

Because here’s a truth I hold deep in my bones: Public libraries are one of the last truly accessible gateways to opportunity we have left.

When the cost of higher education keeps climbing, when career transitions feel overwhelming, when someone struggles to take that next step but just doesn’t know where to begin… libraries (and librarians) have our backs. 

Libraries open doors to change and growth and opportunity. It’s that opportunity that underpins our very democracy. Libraries serve as load-bearing function for the American dream itself. We allow our public libraries to falter at our society’s peril.

That’s why this collaboration mattered to me.

Because those buildings don’t just hold books. They shelter possibility. They support personal agency. They safeguard the principles and values our society holds dear. Libraries and the librarians who serve in them strengthen the foundation of our country.                                            

And for a few hours, I got to be a small part of that.

My thanks to the librarians at Pilot Point Public Library for giving me the opportunity to serve.

Here are a few of their (very-lightly retouched) images from that event. I am so deeply grateful for these absolute superheroes disguised as regular folk. 👏 🙌 🧡

If you’re a local organization thinking about ways to support our community in tangible, meaningful ways, I’d love to be part of that conversation.