Jessica Silva has been selected as RAILS Member Engagement Specialist, effective April 3, 2024. Silva fills the space previously vacated by Dan Bostrom, who was promoted to RAILS Director of Marketing and Communications in October 2023.
Silva has 12 years of experience in education and librarianship, most recently as a faculty librarian at Austin Community College (ACC) in Austin, Texas. As the ACC Library Services Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) committee co-chair, Silva led a team of librarians navigating equity practices within the institution and developed marketing and social media for their library division.
Silva has ample experience participating in professional networks and collaborating with librarians. She served as co-chair of the Texas Library Association’s (TLA) Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion committee, a member of the TLA’s Public Relations and Marketing committee, the Border Regional Library Association and Southwest Book Awards Selection Committee, and the Border Regional Library Association fall conference.
Silva attended the University of Texas (UT) at Austin and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English, followed by a Master of Science in Information Science from UT’s School of Information. She has also served as the Austin International School librarian, an early childhood teacher, and an elementary librarian in Fort Worth, Texas.
As the Member Engagement Specialist, Silva will plan and implement a regular schedule of events with an emphasis on sharing and networking. She will also build and maintain relationships with individuals, organizations, and groups in an effort to engage and inform library workers on system benefits.
“Jessica’s background in school and academic librarianship brings an exciting facet to the communications team,” said Monica Harris, RAILS Executive Director. “We can’t wait for our members to get to know Jessica and begin collaborating on how RAILS can best support our libraries.”