The Voice of San Jose City College since 1956

City College Times

The Voice of San Jose City College since 1956

City College Times

The Voice of San Jose City College since 1956

City College Times

Librarian hit with cuts

[media-credit name=”Carillo” align=”alignnone” width=”307″]Carillo[/media-credit]Students may know her as the pretty lady with a wide smile and glitter on her eyes. Perhaps she’s the librarian who kindly slipped to the back. She helps hundreds of students at San Jose City College and her name is Sharon Carillo.

On Feb. 16, Carillo was informed that she will be laid off. This signifies an end to her six years of working at the Circulation Counter at the Cesar Chavez Library.

“I wasn’t as much shocked as I was disappointed that they had chosen to hit the library with the cuts, being that we are currently understaffed and barely functioning. It hurts because I really love to work here with the students,” Carillo said.

Carillo attained her Bachelor’s degree in psychology from San Jose State University.

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I was in the library all the time during my college years, she recalls. Carillo said she believes that student services and especially the library should be the last to get eliminated.

“I can’t imagine going to college and not being able to access the library because there are not enough people working in it,” Carillo said.
Jeanie Schwab, an adjunct librarian, agrees with Carillo, “Not only will we miss Sharon as a person, but it’s also another example of cutting services to our students. We will have to close earlier and all day Saturday. It is a disservice to the very students we are trying to educate.”

Despite this negative turn of events, Carillo is trying to stay positive.
“I won’t let this affect my work. I still come in here every day with a smile and do my work,” she said. Carillo said that when a challenge meets her, she puts her best foot forward. A motto that highly influences her every day is “Keep going forward and never lose sight of your goals”.

The older sister to two younger brothers, Carillo said she always tries to be a good example for them. She always tells students to go to college, get a degree, and be somebody. If there are obstacles on the way, they should only push you to go further. Carillo, a graduate of Evergreen Valley College, has always wanted to work in Education.

“It brings me a lot of joy knowing that I can bring somebody a step further in their career. I can do just that in the library,” she said. Carillo’s highlight of the day, she said, is “going above and beyond for a student. I am able to be there for people.”

She has a great relationship with the students and speaks spanish, said Debra Franklin, Carillo’s colleague and friend.

“She was excellent at student service. She always had a smile and knew how to keep her cool under pressure. One time, she stopped a person from stealing a book…She was quick, decisive, and knew what to do. She looks like a little sweet girl but she’s strong,” said Linda Meyer, a fellow librarian.

Library technicians get pretty random questions.

A student once came up to Carillo with a stack of books and asked “Can I buy these?” Carillo said, “How would you like to check them out for free?” There’s always something new, she recalls.

Some talents were developed on the job. She said she has learned to read backwards, upside, and sideways because of people dropping off books in all sorts of ways. It’s just faster that way.

Now that she will be unemployed July, she said she hopes to go back to school and get a masters degree in social work. She said that what keeps her going is a phrase her parents are often telling her, “If you don’t try, you’ve already failed.”

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Librarian hit with cuts