By Melissa Moore-Randall
In the last two years, the Revere Public LIbrary has become revitalized. The most recent part of the revitalization is the naming of Krystee Maniscalco as the first Young Adult/Teen Librarian. A 2012 graduate of Revere High School, Krystee studied communications and advertising at Salem State University.
“My whole life I have been in the service industry. I started helping out at my family’s restaurant when I was just 12 years old. I fell in love with the social aspect of it and of course the money when I became old enough to waitress. After the restaurant closed, I knew that I wanted a job with advertising, but still be connected to the public. That is when the opportunity presented itself to work for the city.â€
Krystee applied to the Library as an assistant. Soon, Director Diana Luongo appointed her to the social media department . “During my time promoting the library and our programs I stepped in for the Children’s Librarian who was out on maternity leave. I immediately fell in love with it even though it was a struggle to continue the programs during a pandemic.â€
Shortly after, I became the permanent Children’s Librarian. I decided the program room needed a facelift so I began designing a new space for the families to utilize. I wanted to keep the room open to the public and not just during programs. We bought all new toys and craft supplies as well as sensory tables and boards. I wanted this to be a place where kids wanted to come. We also kept tradition and remained hosting our annual Mother’s Day Tea party, Easter Egg Hunt and other holiday celebrations. Three years later, our program numbers skyrocketed and we successfully brought the families of Revere back to the library.â€
“This year we introduced Revere’s first ever Family Literacy Day, Revere Reads. This program idea was brought to us by Chelsea Reads, who has successfully done this program for 17 years. We provided 200 backpacks filled with books from K-5th grade. During the event we had guest readers, face painting, crafts, and a special performance for the grand finale. We plan to make this an annual event, but I am so lucky I got to be a part of planning the very first one.â€
After working for the library for four years, Krystee finally found her “true home†in the Young Adult Department leading to her recent appointment as Young Adult/Teen Librarian. “I am looking forward to building that department from the ground up. As well as being the Y.A. Librarian, I am also Community Outreach. I travel to different schools to promote the library and inform the public on what services we have to offer. My future plan is to remodel the Young Adult Lounge alongside Diana Luongo and create programs for teens. So far we have added a Teen Social Club, Book Club, Coloring Group and my favorite, Crafternoons where there will be a different style of crafting every week. I cannot wait to take this department and make it a safe and fun space for the teens in our community.â€