This summer, the Sonoma County History & Genealogy Library in Santa Rosa joined 48 libraries across the U.S. by serving as a pilot site for a new internship program intended to help attract young people to careers in librarianship. The library hosted Santa Rosa High School graduate Cortunay Minor as part of the Public Library Association’s Inclusive Internship Initiative (III).

“From my coworkers, to my mentors, to other mentors in the program, to all the interns I got to befriend and beyond, I am much more attuned to the expansiveness and complexities of librarianship,” Minor said. “Not only has my support system expanded, but as has my circle of friends and my fond, respect-full adoration for our Sonoma County Libraries.”

Minor began her internship in June and worked closely with her appointed mentors at the History & Genealogy Library: Special Collections Librarians and Archivists Zayda Delgado and Joanna Kolosov. The trio completed a connected learning project that concluded with a wrap-up presentation of Minor’s experiences at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. on September 21.

“It was important for the History & Genealogy Library to host an intern from the Roseland community, who is a Spanish speaker and from a younger demographic than our typical visitors,” Delgado and Kolosov said. “[Minor’s] perspective illuminated points of view that we had previously overlooked. Her passion and vision are very much in line with our goals to better document underrepresented communities, particularly LGBTQ and people of color.”

The Inclusive Internship Initiative is funded by PLA with support from a pre-professional Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program Grant (grant RE-00-17-0129-17) from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.