The following is this week’s I AM, YOU ARE, WE ARE Honoree by Nicole Van Hyfte and Ashton Greer
Jennifer Hess is raising the bar for the Danville Public Library with a standard of continuous improvement, something she learned during her time in Orange County, Florida as a Disney employee. She was born and raised here, graduated from Danville High School, spent two years at DACC and finished out her bachelor’s degree in English and Theatre at Eastern Illinois University. She immediately started an internship at Disney and then spent nearly 5 years on staff at the world-renowned theme park in various roles, but she says her favorite was being a costuming manager.
Reflecting, Jennifer says it was just amazing to see the iconic costumes in person. She had the funniest experiences, “brushing out chipmunks, running out of Eeyores because too many of the costumes were sent to the wash…” However, the most valuable lesson she learned from her theme park employment is that an immersive experience is important.
Hess says, “Here at the Danville Public Library we want people to meet the characters they read about. We often read a book, watch the movie, and then stop there. We want to take it a step further with an immersive experience through events at the library. We want to build a bridge away from the screen and back to the books.” If you are lucky, you may have been able to witness the magic that the library has created under Jennifer’s leadership through events like Stranger Things and Potterfest, events that draw several thousand people through the doors.
Jennifer is focused on improving the library but keeping our local flavor. Growing up here, she always loved the library and knew it was where she wanted to end up, so when she returned to Danville in 2012 she accepted a job at the DACC library and studied Library Science at the University of Illinois simultaneously, graduating with her Master’s in 2018. The Library has made several major improvements since Jennifer came on board in 2017, just before her graduation.
The library has upgraded the security tagging system for faster processing and self-checkout options, developed a phone app, updated their website, added wireless printing for visitors, updated their meeting rooms, and they now have a memory lab that allows people to digitize content captured with older technology. Their next big project is digitizing their genealogy records to preserve them and prevent decay. For 2022, The Danville Public Library received an award for number one in Customer Service for Danville!
Beyond the library, Jennifer has been very involved in local theatre companies such as Danville Light Opera and Dark Horse Theatre Company. She has directed and performed in dozens of shows locally. Jennifer resides in Danville proper with her husband, Colin, and their daughter. She says, “This is our home. Our family is here. Our community is supportive. We love our neighborhood and feel like we live in an enchanted forest with deer walking through, hummingbirds and chipmunks all around… it is cozy and homey.”
Jennifer, we are so glad you are here. Thank you for breathing new life into the Danville Public Library and for leading progressively with imagination and creativity.
If you have someone you would like to share,
visit https://forms.gle/deCPiQ1cxn1pDLhZ9
or contact Ashton Greer, City of Danville agreer@cityofdanville.org or
Nicole Van Hyfte, Vermilion Advantage nvanhyfte@vermilionadvantage.com.
