When Tina Nixon’s twins were young, the family visited Kline Library every week for reading time and activities.  Tina, Vice President, Mission Effectiveness and Chief Diversity Officer for UPMC Pinnacle, says these days she enjoys the adult programming, such as Black Girl Health’s presentation on domestic violence. “Libraries are still the go-to places in our community.”

What are you reading? Right now, I’m reading “Overcoming Bias: Building Authentic Relationships Across Differences,” by Tiffany Jana and Matthew Freeman. On deck, I have “Erasing Institutional Bias,” by Tiffany Jana and Ashley Diaz Mejias, and the other one is “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism,” by Robin DiAngelo.

Why those particular books? Reading helps me not only learn more but get a different perspective on the work that I do. Sometimes, there are very difficult and very emotional conversations we have to have. Being able to have that empathy, walking in somebody else’s shoes – for me to do this work, I have to be my authentic self and understand my biases. Especially in this day and age, I don’t live in my emotions for very long. I try to figure out what I can do to learn from them, address them, and move forward.

What’s your favorite thing about the library? Even though we receive so much of our information online and on our phones, libraries are still a cornerstone in our communities, especially for children who don’t have access to laptops and computers.