Meet Fair Haven's Newest Librarian

The Fair Haven Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library on a recent Thursday. Solé Scott Photos. 

Graciela Rivera discovered her love for language and literacy in the collections of the Hartford Public Library. Now, she’s bringing what she’s learned to New Haven, where it’s her goal to give back to the community one book, discussion, and public program at a time.

Rivera is the new branch manager at the Fair Haven Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library (NHFPL), an arm of the organization that rises off Grand Avenue in a Carnegie-funded brick building that is over 105 years old. As she steps into the role, she’s working to get acclimated and socialize with families—including and especially in Spanish. In addition to being bilingual, Rivera has a background in translation and interpretation.

“What really drew me here specifically to the Fair Haven branch was the diverse community and the predominantly Spanish speaking community that's here,” Rivera said. “I want to be somewhere where I can really utilize my bilingual speaking skills.”

Born in the Bronx, Rivera grew up in the Dominican Republic with her grandmother until she was 12, and then moved to Hartford, where she lived for years in the city’s Frog Hollow neighborhood. From those early years in Hartford, she had a reverence for libraries and librarians, reading everything she could get her hands on.

Children's Librarian Sharon Breslow, who previously worked at the NHFPL's main branch downtown, and Branch Manager Graciela Rivera. 

By high school, she worked as an assistant at the Hartford Public Library, doing everything from homework help to graphic design. She learned how to be the missing piece between librarians and members of the public, translating for community members when it was necessary. She realized the power that language and culturally specific programming could have, a focus that later became part of her professional work.

Even as she pursued psychology at the University of Connecticut, Rivera held onto that love for libraries. After graduating, she worked as an educator for a while, and then went back to school for her graduate work in library science. Prior to her time in New Haven, she was a branch manager at the Park Street Branch of the Hartford Public Library, where she grew the organization’s dedication to Latine-spefic programming through 2024.

In 2022, for instance, she piloted Mujeres Emprendedoras, a collaboration with Hartford’s Arte Popular that gave Latinas the chance to explore entrepreneurship. It was one of several new programs she got off the ground, focused on a community that was often left at the margins, even as Connecticut’s Latino population continued to grow.

Ultimately, and despite the commute she still makes from Hartford, she was ready for a change. “What really brought me to New Haven was the possibility of being in a space where I could be in a different library system and learn a different library system,” she said. She officially started the position on January 20 of this year.

On a recent, chilly Thursday, her goal of building community was in full swing, as bundled-up families scurried from the parking lot and K-8 school next door into the library’s warmth. As cars pulled in and out of the lot, one family made the short walk across the pavement to the library, taking advantage of the proximity to pick up books before heading home. It felt like a small but telling scene, the library a part of the rhythm of neighborhood life.

Inside, there was magic waiting for them, in rows and rows of snugly packed books, a bay of public computers, a printer and a fax machine for those who need access to free technology. In the children’s section, a freestanding bookshelf with titles like You and Me, Baby, ¡Felicidades!: A Celebration with Shapes, and I Am La Chiva!: The Colorful Bus of the Andes beckoned. Nearby, designs scribbled in crayon sprawled across tables covered in butcher paper.

Downstairs, two program rooms sat at the ready for activities like Community Management Team meetings, English and Spanish conversation classes, and weekly storytime sessions that reliably unfold in two languages.

The Fair Haven Branch has five employees, including a branch manager, full-time library assistant, children’s librarian, part-time librarian assistant and another full timer. Sharon Breslow, who has been the children’s librarian for the past three years, said that she and fellow staff “try to like to bring people in and go outreach too.”

That approach is working, particularly now that there is more language access in one of New Haven’s most diverse and polyphonic immigrant neighborhoods. The library hosts a multitude of events and programs for children and adults, from tax prep, bilingual tech support, and one-on-one community service assistance, to language clubs. Recently, the branch also started offering an introduction to piano, with longtime music educator Pat Bissell.

“We have a great community of patrons, but I think we can bring in more people, so I would like to in that effort go out more into the community,” Breslow said.

It’s also a space for civic engagement. The branch even hosts meetings of the Fair Haven Community Management Team on the first Thursday of each month while also carving out time on the first Saturday of each month for community members to come speak with Ward 14 Alder Sarah Miller.

Rivera, meanwhile, is excited to get to know the community better, including as the weather gets warmer and neighborhood festivals return to the city.

“I’m really excited to be a part of the Fair Haven Day, which is coming up on May 2,” Rivera said. “Since I know the library has always been a part of that, so I want to continue on with those traditions.”

One event coming up at the end of the month is a Black History Celebration with Music Haven on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 3:30 p.m.

The Fair Haven Branch is open to the public Monday-Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Thursdays the branch is open from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5p.m.