Gabriel Jones-Gallardo has been a Board member for the Library Foundation of Hillsboro for 6 years. About joining the Library Foundation, he says, “I had just gotten a promotion at work and was looking for a way to start giving back to the community I grew up in.” He continues to give back, and today he shares a bit about himself and his relationship with books and literacy, and why he supports the libraries – our community’s “living rooms.”
What is your role at the Library Foundation of Hillsboro?
I always say that I bring the good vibes! For 3 years I served as the liaison to the city’s Library Board. I provide input and feedback on plans and initiatives the Foundation is considering. I also help with logistics and tasks for any fundraisers.
Could you tell us a little bit about your personal and professional background?
I have been working in banking for 8 years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I moved to First Tech Federal Credit Union, joining the Credit Union movement. I started as a Financial Solutions Representative at the Tanasbourne Experience Center. A year later, I moved to the back office, conveniently located behind the Brookwood library, where I currently serve as a deceased account processor, assisting beneficiaries, executors, and families of deceased First Tech account holders.
A significant part of my young adult life was dedicated to DeMolay International, a youth organization for ages 12-21, where local programs are youth led, under adult supervision. Through hard work and commitment, I rose to serve as the youth leader for the State of Oregon and one of two elected international leaders. DeMolay is where I honed my love for service.
What are some projects that you have worked on at the Library Foundation of Hillsboro that are especially meaningful to you?
One of the earliest things I brought up was that there was a surprising lack of bilingual and non-English books in the Tiny Branches located throughout the city in our parks. While the Library itself does have a robust multilingual collection, it didn’t extend to the Tiny Branches.
Growing up in a bilingual household, where one parent exclusively spoke English, and the other – from Panama – exclusively spoke Spanish, having easy access to books that my mom could read to us mattered. That bonding time where she could read to her kids with confidence and understanding mattered. You know, English is the dominant language here, and it is really easy for her culture and her language to get drowned out, but those times when she got to read Spanish books for us were times when it felt like being bilingual, multiracial, whatever you want to call it, was something special.
This initiative to include linguistic diversity in Tiny Branches led to the development of our Generous Words campaign, which is an ongoing project that seeks to increase access and remove barriers for people so they can have books in their homes.
What are some books, movies, or other publications or stories that have been meaningful in your life?
This is tough! I’ve always loved stories. A well-written story will bring me to tears. It’s a toss up between cook books and Life of Pi by Yan Martel.
Cook books always hit close to home because food tells the story of not just a culture, but of a family. I grew up learning to cook from my grandma, and was entrusted with all of her recipes after she passed. I look back through them and see the notes where she makes specific callouts. I can see the change in taste over time. I can also see the same love of family and community that she instilled in me back in her kitchen.
For example, there would be little notes like, “This is Erick’s favorite” or “don’t make for Gale – allergic to pistachios”, just little little notes so that you see when she’s taking care of her “kids.” She only had two children, but she was very much a “hey, if you’re hanging with my kids, you’re one of my kids” person, so she looked out for everyone, and in terms of food too. Erick, her son (my dad) really loved this particular muffin recipe, so she made sure that was noted. I made the bran muffins, they’re delicious. And whenever I’ve made them for my dad, it sends him down a nice nostalgia rabbit hole, along with all these memories and stories of his buddies that also liked them. You eat a little bit of that warmth and memory. (The recipe is at the end of this article!)
The other book that means a lot to me is Life of Pi by Yan Martel. It’s a beautiful story of a boy who has his faith and beliefs tested to the extreme for 227 days. This taught me a very valuable lesson: who you are at your core comes out when you’re under stress. Over the years, my beliefs have been challenged. I took those challenges as opportunities to reflect, and my beliefs have changed and evolved. And they’re stronger now than before, because I’ve doubted and thought about what truly matters to me and who I believe I am as a person. This book helped me solidify that process and an appreciation for doubt.
What are some things that you would like our Hillsboro community to know about the Library or the Library Foundation?
Our libraries serve as a sort of family room of the community where meaningful change can happen, whether it’s for an individual or for a community. The library provides space for freedom to read, explore and learn new ideas. Everyone is welcome there. It’s much more than a warehouse for books!
What does community mean to you and how does your work and volunteering help promote your vision of community?
Home, where people feel safe and comfortable, where they can lean on others for assistance if and when they need it. And then they’re willing and able to provide assistance when somebody else needs it. It’s usually defined by some sort of geography, but for me it’s just my community – it’s the people that give a damn about other people.
I try to make sure that we’re supporting initiatives and programs that make things more accessible for everybody, that make things easier. Like with the Generous Words campaign and putting bilingual or multilingual books in the Tiny Branches, the Storywalk®, the hot spots, you know just filling the gaps so people feel like they can belong and the resources are there to help them up before they even need to ask.
Can you tell a story about a time that the library has been meaningful for you as a place or as a resource?
Back in middle and high school, I was struggling to study and do homework at home, but the library was the place that I could go and focus in on the assignment. I would go to Brookwood and Shute Park.
Any final thoughts?
I’ll just throw in my mantra just because, why not? I got it from my grandma: “I’m not lost, I’m on an adventure.” So that’s kind of my approach to everything. I’m never lost, just on an adventure.
BRAN MUFFINS
Cream Together:
¾ c Shortening and ¾ c Brown Sugar
Add:
1 C Flour
1 tsp baking soda
Mix Well.
Add:
1 C Sour Milk (make sour milk by adding 2 TBLS vinegar to 1 cup regular milk)
Add:
2 Cups Bran
½ cup raisins or currants (optional)
½ c chopped rhubarb & apples (optional)
Bake at 350 for 10-15 mins
Makes one good dozen – Freezes well
