Johanna Pounds
Northeast News

Amanda Barnhart’s office is overflowing with cards, handmade cups, and original library memes all made with love from her library staff. Barnhart is the Branch Manager for the Northeast Branch of the Kansas City Public Library (KCPL).
To honor her election as president for the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) earlier this year, her staff presented her with a reusable water jug with the words “President Barnhart” written on it, that she said she uses every day.

Barnhart talked about how deeply she cares about the Northeast, a love that is palpable when the Northeast News sat down and talked to her last week. Now, her drive to help the youth thrive in the Historic Northeast community has gained her national recognition.

YALSA had been a part of Barnhart’s life since her early 20s, and when she was approached by the current president to run for president of the association, she was taken aback.  Although the journey to being elected president and becoming manager of the Northeast branch of KCPL was extensive, she worked hard to be where she is.

“Although it was something I had always wanted, they were things that felt just out of reach. Then, it all came at once and I couldn’t have been more happy. As a Latina in the library profession, not just a minority, but a huge minority in the profession, I’ve felt over the years I have really had to prove myself, not just to others but to myself. Then, you realize what an incredible achievement you’ve accomplished, and how hard you have worked to get there. And you realize, ‘Yeah I did that.’”

YALSA has helped drive Barnhart’s passion for helping young adults through the library. Their resources have helped put a lot of ideas into place, and in Barnhart’s words, YALSA is “a fantastic network. It is a great way to get in contact with other individuals who are either on the front line supporting youth in libraries or in the back end performing active tasks that better help with youth in the community.”

Barnhart will hold the role of president for three years at YALSA. The first year, she will shadow the current president and learn her way around the position. The second year, she will be an active president and take charge in the leadership role. The third year, she will be non-active and help the new president learn the reigns, as she did.

Barnhart implements YALSA’s resources in everyday life, using her two youth-focused library staffers and documents provided by YALSA to help connect with the youth in the library. Although YALSA does add extra work to her already packed schedule, she has no complaint.

In the coming months, the Northeast branch of the Kansas City Public Library will close for improvements, and even though they will have an interim location, Barnhart said she knows it will be about a year before she can utilize her elected position within the library itself.

“I am definitely focused on what kind of staff we need when we reopen. I hope to have this huge grand reopening where we have to take over the parking lot next door.”

Barnhart looks forward to the library reopening after the months of improvements they are about to go through, so she can use YALSA’s resources even more as she moves through her presidency.
To learn more about YALSA and the resources available to the public, visit http://www.ala.org/yalsa/. To learn more about your local library branch, visit https://www.kclibrary.org/.