Librarian Helena Powell is dedicated to using her role at Green Hedges to build and nurture what she calls “a community of readers,” where the library is a clearinghouse, crossroads, and meeting place for students, faculty, parents, siblings, and staff, one that supports reading and learning more broadly, and that emboldens creativity and curiosity. “We want everyone to feel welcome and that it’s for them,” she says, adding that what that looks like is different for each person and includes teaching students to be safe and responsible digital citizens.

“Books were a big part of my childhood,” says Ms. Powell, remembering a library assistant who lived next door and made the magic of books come alive for her. Later, Ms. Powell earned a B.A. in English & Textual Studies from Syracuse University, where a semester abroad in London included courses in history and museum studies that, she says, “opened my eyes to books beyond the story, beyond the text. That’s what sparked the idea of becoming a librarian.” She went on to earn an M.S. in Library & Information Science at Syracuse.

Ms. Powell spent several summers counseling campers and trainees and leading them on trips abroad, and has worked as Copy Editor in the corporate world. Before coming to Green Hedges, she was librarian at Shady Side Academy Middle School and Mt. Lebanon High School in Pittsburgh, PA.

An accomplished cook who would like to own a restaurant or grocery store someday, Ms.Powell also loves to sing.