Fremont, CA
Authenticity, Integrity, Creativity, Curiosity, and Empathy—these are the values of the Alameda County Library in California, and they come to life through the work of county librarian Deb Sica. Under her guidance, the library “has become a place where authenticity is welcomed and mistakes are treated as opportunities to learn.”
Sica has shaped her library career fighting for racial equity, LGBTQIA+ rights, and intellectual freedom. At the Alameda County Library, she led the creation of the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) team, a small group that has since blossomed into an Equitable Libraries Division, which targets programs to distinct communities and manages access and outreach services for underserved communities, as well as the JEDI Mentorship Program, which provides tools for career growth and development to staff from historically underserved backgrounds. She has also positioned the library as the sponsoring department for the Alameda County Reparations Commission, which aims to address generations of harm against the county’s Black residents.
In an effort to improve staff safety amidst violent incidents across the county’s library branches, Sica connected with PAVE Prevention, a trauma-informed organization that provides de-escalation training to prevent workplace violence, to bring training to all staff members in the library district over three years. The relationship Sica fostered between the Alameda County Library and PAVE—the organization’s first with a library—has led to the organization working with additional library systems in California, Georgia, and Illinois.
“Deb doesn’t just support the community—she lifts it,” one of her nominators wrote. “She builds relationships, bridges gaps, and makes people feel welcome, valued, and safe to be themselves. She has created a culture grounded in dignity, empathy, and possibility. Her leadership doesn’t just change policies or programs; it changes people.”
Sica was selected from more than 1,300 nominations from library users nationwide for the 2026 award. As part of her award, she will receive a $5,000 cash prize as well as complimentary registration and a travel stipend to attend ALA’s Annual Conference in Chicago.
The I Love My Librarian Award is sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, with additional support from the New York Public Library, and is administered by the American Library Association. Since 2008, library users have shared more than 25,000 nominations detailing how librarians have gone above and beyond to promote literacy, expand access to technology, and support diversity and inclusion in their communities.
