Anna Lapid –
Though head librarian Anna Lapid splits her time between Aragon and Capuchino, she has similar goals for her job at both schools. “[I want] to teach information literacy or research skills to students, to collaborate with teachers, and to impart those skills to students,” Lapid says.
Lapid came into the district intending to become an English teacher. “I applied to the San Mateo Union High School District to be an English teacher, and I was instead offered to be the librarian by Kurt Black, who was the principal eight years ago,” she says. “I had to go back to graduate school and get a masters in library and information science.”
Like any teacher, Lapid is found working from the first to last day of school, but she doesn’t stop there. “I teach English sometimes during summer school. They are my guinea pigs for certain information literacy lessons.”
“I enjoy that I get to teach, but I don’t have to grade the papers,” Lapid says. “I try not to tell others that secret.”
Diane Gagliani –
Assistant librarian Diane Gagliani, who will retire on April 30, has been in the district for 16 years.
“I was laid off at San Mateo High School, and Kurt Black brought me over here, and the [Aragon] parents paid my salary,” Gagliani explains.
Gagliani found a career in education appealing because it would allow her more time with her children. “In raising a family it seems to me that the best place to be would be working in the school where I could be off during the summer, during Christmas, during Easter. I could be off at 3:30 and be with my children,” she says.
Gagliani, like Lapid, has a goal for the Aragon library. “At times, the library is is a social place, and students come in here, and a lot of them don’t really want to work,” she explains. “My goal would be to have the library conducive to a quiet, learning place for students who want to come in and do their work and learn.”
Silivia Goodwin –
Assistant librarian Silvia Goodwin is new to Aragon this year and is working as a substitute for librarian Eleanor Morizono. Before arriving at Aragon, Goodwin spent 22 years working in an airport.
“I started in customer service, then I moved up the ladder as a supervisor, and I was a passenger service manager for the rest of the years,” she says. “I was responsible for the flights to leave on schedule, dealing with over sales; we had to supervise the services, the catering services, the ticket counter service, and we had to do a lot with immigration.”
Compared to her old job, working in a library is a nice change of pace. She says, “You don’t feel like you’re time constrained. At the airport I had to meet deadlines, and here you do it, but it’s not like it has to be done right now.”
Outside of her job, Goodwin enjoys exploring the outdoors. “I like people. I like to travel,” she says. “There are so many fun places, but what impressed me was New Zealand because of the beauty of their mountains and the nature. It’s just beautiful.”
