Women's History Month Spotlight: Tywanna Mickens, North Birmingham and Inglenook Libraries Employee of the Month

Tywanna Mickens of North Birmingham/Inglenook Library

By Karnecia Williams | North Birmingham Regional Library/Inglenook Branch Library  

Any good leader knows that the success of an organization is not his or hers to claim solely, but is also the team’s whose fulfillments and contributions propelled the success of the vision.

 Having said that, team members at North Birmingham and Inglenook Libraries epitomize the effectiveness of a good team and are testaments to the level of success that can be achieved with one.

Because of the awesomeness of this team and their contributions to the success of these libraries, I felt compelled to honor and recognize all their hard work by creating an “Employee of the Month Program.”

The March 2021 employee of the month is Tywanna Mickens. 

As public libraries, our model and very existence, as it should be, is built upon maximizing and enhancing the patron’s experience; however, without a good team, the patron’s experience becomes compromised and lackluster, opposite of why we exist.

When you have a good team as I do, it is imperative to not allow their hard work to go unnoticed and to provide them with a platform through which appreciation can be expressed. 

Also, the byproduct of exhibiting this simple, yet effective act, results in an increase in productivity, though not the primary purpose. Everyone wins when team members are uplifted and appreciated.

Tywanna D. Mickens is the first to be recognized as North Birmingham and Inglenook Libraries' Employee of the Month. She has proven to be the backbone of North Birmingham Library while also making large contributions at Inglenook Library. In fact, among her many initiatives at Inglenook Library is her establishment  of a new DVD cataloging system. 

The system used before was somehow deleted, resulting in over 2,000 DVDs needing to be cataloged. Due to her system, most of the DVDs have been successfully cataloged and it is even more efficient than the system used before.

Among Tywanna's eclectic skillset is her ability to multitask, which she does effortlessly, yet effectively and efficiently. She takes initiative and has created and accomplished many projects to not only appease patrons, but to also support her fellow colleagues in their respective roles.

Tywanna does everything with excellence and we, patrons and staff alike, are grateful to have her on our team.