{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/xk84j0cp21/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Manny Villapol Oral History"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eManuel (Manny) Villapol is an adult educator at the Jeanne Elmezzi Adult Learning Center at the Queens Public Library branch in Long Island City. Manny immigrated to Long Island City from Havana, Cuba as a teenager and attended City Tech and Queens College, studying mathematics. He taught in public schools in Queens and Brooklyn, worked for several years as a broker for TD Waterhouse, then became an adult educator with the union 1199SEIU. He has also authored GED flashcards for Barron's Educational Series. In 2015, Manny joined the Jeanne Elmezzi Adult Learning Center, initially serving as center manager and as a course instructor. He now serves as instructional manager and continues to teach.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eManny discusses his formative experiences of reading and libraries in his native city of Havana and in Long Island City; his educational and career trajectories; the fundamental role of the Adult Learning Center and the Queens Public Library in the lives of Long Island City residents, particularly immigrants and asylum seekers; and some of the funding and social challenges posed by the political climate of the early 2020s.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["http://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/search/browse/42485"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2023-11-02 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Tags"]},"value":{"en":["Queens College Alumni"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Audio"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Manny Villapol (Interviewee)","Lori Rothstein (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["1960s-2023 (temporal)","Long Island City, Queens, NY; Brooklyn, NY; Havana, Cuba (spatial)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eManuel (Manny) Villapol is an adult educator at the Jeanne Elmezzi Adult Learning Center at the Queens Public Library branch in Long Island City. Manny immigrated to Long Island City from Havana, Cuba as a teenager and attended City Tech and Queens College, studying mathematics. He taught in public schools in Queens and Brooklyn, worked for several years as a broker for TD Waterhouse, then became an adult educator with the union 1199SEIU. He has also authored GED flashcards for Barron's Educational Series. In 2015, Manny joined the Jeanne Elmezzi Adult Learning Center, initially serving as center manager and as a course instructor. He now serves as instructional manager and continues to teach.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eManny discusses his formative experiences of reading and libraries in his native city of Havana and in Long Island City; his educational and career trajectories; the fundamental role of the Adult Learning Center and the Queens Public Library in the lives of Long Island City residents, particularly immigrants and asylum seekers; and some of the funding and social challenges posed by the political climate of the early 2020s.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/225/659/small/Portrait_aviary.jpg?1705603661","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - Villapol-Manny-byLoriR.mp3"]},"duration":3026.02449,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/225/659/small/Portrait_aviary.jpg?1705603661","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/225/659/original/Villapol-Manny-byLoriR.mp3?1705603403","type":"Audio","format":"audio/mpeg","duration":3026.02449,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Full Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: My name is Lori Rothstein and I'm interviewing Manny Villapol on November 2nd, 2023. By making this recording, we both consent to the use of our names, voices, images, and likeness by the Queens Public Library, understanding that this recording will be the property of the library and will be used in connection with the promotion and marketing of the library, its programs and services. It will not be sold by the library in any way. We understand that we will not receive compensation and agree to hold the library harmless from any claim arising from the use of this interview and recording. Good morning, Manny. I'm really glad to be here today to talk to you about your work at Queens Public Library and the Adult Learning Center. Would you please tell me something about your earliest memories connected to reading and libraries?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=0.0,43.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Yeah, definitely. Good morning, Lori. A pleasure to meet you. As far as my earliest memories connected to reading and libraries, they're basically associated with my mother. Those memories are related to her. I remember her reading to me as a child, as a young kid. Many of the readings that she shared with me, I guess, were things that she was interested in. And I remember a lot of it had to do with ancient Greek mythology and so on. She was interested in that, and it was fascinating to me. It was fascinating because it is just — the mythology has all these characters that are just fascinating, especially to a young child who might think of them as real, you know. So that's the earliest memories that I have related to reading —someone reading to me at that point and me really getting into reading, me really enjoying reading.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=43.0,119.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: This is not very academic, but it's the truth. I had lived in Spain for a couple of years, from '72 to '74, and there were these comics — comic books, I should say, comic books — that I used to read that were tremendously funny. I mean, tremendously funny. That's how I remember them. I used to even cry from laughter. Mortadelo y Filemón — that's the name of those comic books. They actually still exist. So they started, I think, in the late sixties, mid to late sixties. And as far as I know, they're still making them. Although I remember getting — my mother used to go to Spain back and forth quite often, and she brought some of those books in the early 2000s. And I guess since I'm detached from the culture, they were not as funny. I mean, the references they made were not as relevant to me as they used to be when I was living there. But yeah, those are kind of like my memories.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=119.0,195.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: And when you look back on reading in your family, what do you remember about your parents reading, or reading to you, other than the mythology?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=195.0,204.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Well, my mom basically was the one that did more of that with me. What really sticks out in my earliest memories is that, but besides that, the fact that we lived in a communist system. I had just turned 12 years old when I left. Sometimes they would show us — us meaning my sister and I — they would point out the kind of propaganda that we were reading in newspapers. Anything good — And my mother at the time, actually, during the sixties, up to the mid sixties, she was associated with Havana University. She had some training in — back in those days, in the fifties, late fifties, early sixties, journalists needed skills that they don't need now. For example, now there's recording machines. Back then people had to take notes, so shorthand. So my mother used to teach shorthand. She had also learned how to — I'm giving you a little background, OK, that's why I'm saying these things — she also used to know how to use IBM machines. I don't know exactly what she knew, but it was punch card machines back then. And she would teach those skills to journalist students in Havana University. So, she not only would criticize the newspapers, but she knew why she was criticizing them.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=204.0,304.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: The newspapers in Cuba — back then, they had something called the Telex machine that would bring news from all over the world. And they would sit there and pick and choose which ones to print and which ones not to print in the newspaper. So she would point [out] newspaper articles from Havana's newspaper saying — and she would say, some good news that came in from the United States will never get printed. Any bad news that comes from the United States will get printed. Anything from the Soviet Union that's bad will get rejected. Anything good from the Soviet Bloc, that will get printed. So that's something that — and she would point to different articles. I don't remember specific ones. And she would say, this is an example of what I was telling you about. So I grew up in a little bit of that, seeing the world in that light.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=304.0,360.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: That's a very interesting and complex introduction to the world of reading and information, certainly. How old were you when you started visiting libraries?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=360.0,371.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Well, I remember visiting a library that was right next to the elementary school that I went to in Havana. It's on a park. Santo Suárez is the name of the park. And on that park, as far as I know, it still exists. It's a small library. But I remember that library being the first library that I ever walked into. I was young. I kind of remember it like, a little scary at first because it was like a building in the middle of a park. The park is all playgrounds, and that place was silent, as a library kind of should be, right? But I always remember being welcome in there. And that was in the — I left in 1972, so I must've been single digits as far as age. So when I first started going there, maybe like seven, eight, I don't really recall the exact age, but that's — it's on that park — Santo Suárez is the name of the park.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=371.0,438.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: The school I went to, back then, it was called Alexander Fleming. You know, Alexander Fleming. But in Spanish — the same name, but slightly different pronunciation. And that was the name of the school that I went to. The school's still there, but now it has a different name. I know that, but it's still in the same — the name of the park remains the same. Santo Suárez is the name. So yeah, that's the first library I went to in Cuba. If we talk about here — when I came here — I came to this country in 1974, in August of '74, and I've always been in this area since 1974. The first library that I went to was the one on Broadway, Broadway and 41st Street. That's the first library that I went to. And it's still there. And I actually still have a library card from back then.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=438.0,498.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: Wow!","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=498.0,498.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Which was like — on a piece — it almost looks like an index card. That's what it looks like. And it has my name and my signature, which hasn't really changed that much, thank God, I guess. So yeah, that was the first library that I went to in this country, in the United States.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=498.0,515.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: And what do you remember — what are your memories of being in either or both of these libraries? What did you particularly enjoy —","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=515.0,521.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Remember —","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=521.0,521.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: Just what stands out in your memory?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=521.0,525.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: What really stands out in my memory is — I do have a love for books. What stands out in my memory — it's almost like going to a toy store. At that stage in my life, it was almost like going to a toy store. And how does a child feel when they go into a toy store? They're happy, right? They're happy. They have so many things to choose from, and that's how I used to feel. The fact that there was such a huge variety. And by the way, the library here on Broadway and 41st Street, the Queens Library there, compared to the one I mentioned in Cuba, it's 10 times bigger. So to me, that was like a huge library, at the time. I was young at the time, I was like — when I came here, I was about 14. I'm pretty sure that I didn't go as soon as I landed, but it was near my house. I used to live on 45th Street. This is on 41st Street, right along Broadway. So I used to go there quite often, and I would look at the books, I would look at magazines, the selections that — I would choose, whatever I felt like choosing at the time and read whatever I felt like reading at the time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=525.0,603.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: And were there particular librarians that you developed relationships with who helped you find things? Or did you kind of browse on your own?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=603.0,610.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: I did a lot of browsing on my own. I always felt welcome, and whenever I needed help, I was helped very politely. I don't have any bad memories, OK. If I told you that I remember specific people, specific librarians, I would be lying to you. So I don't remember specific librarians. Again, don't forget, this is also — I went to that library maybe in the seventies a few times. I don't remember how many times. But I did go a few times throughout the seventies, and then pretty much I would go to the libraries at school, at colleges that I was attending, and then I stopped going there.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=610.0,650.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: Right, right. So tell me a little bit about your education after high school, what you studied and where.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=650.0,656.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: So I think because I grew up in a communist country for the first 12 years of my life — from 1960 to 1972 — I was born in 1960. I think there was an influence on pretty much everybody at that time to study science and mathematics. There was that race of who's gonna put the first man on the moon kind of a deal. Not that I wanted to be the first man on the moon or any such thing [laughs], but the influence, the general feeling in the atmosphere was let's study science. Let's study mathematics. So that was very much the case. So my — what should I call that? My interests were geared towards science, towards math. So when I decided to actually study something, I already had very, very deep respect for those fields of study. And so at the beginning when I started college, I wanted to be an electrical engineer. That's what I thought I wanted to be. I actually started at a community college when I first started.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=656.0,755.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: Which one?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=755.0,755.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: I started —","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=755.0,756.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: One of the Queens colleges?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=756.0,758.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: No, I started on Jay Street.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=758.0,760.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: OK.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=760.0,762.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: OK. That's changed names like a million different times. Now I think it's called City Tech. So I went there and I started getting some kind of — basically, I needed some remedial courses, so I had to take some remedial courses. I started taking mathematics and English. They wanted me to strengthen those two topics, and I think they were correct. That brings me to other thoughts, but I'm going to leave them alone because I would go off on a tangent and I don't want to do that. So I started studying to get enough background to study electrical engineering. But little by little, I started to just be more and more interested in math. I found it interesting. I found it very elegant the way — it's just, to me, it's an elegant-looking field. The way that it looks — it has a certain — I don't know if mysticism would be the right word to choose, but it's something mystical about those symbols or something that attracted me to those symbols. I wanted to know what they meant. And so I started studying that, and that's what I ended up doing. I got a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Queens College. That's where I went. And then I started a master's program, also at Queens.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=762.0,859.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: But then I —because of, you know — life takes you this way and that way, it pulls you in different directions, and I said to myself, no, I'm not going to go for that. At that moment in time, I felt that I was not — that I didn't have the right stuff to continue. I had other things that were pulling me in different directions. So I left that alone, but I never left — what I feel — the attraction that I have towards mathematics never left me. So I continued to on my own every once in a while, read things — now, more like things related to logic and basically that type of stuff. I like to be able to make statements that are logical, but I also realized that logic is only a little part of life. It's not everything, but it's an important part of life.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=859.0,921.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: So what did you do when you started your professional career, and then what was the trajectory between that and coming to the Adult Learning Center?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=921.0,928.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: OK. So the trajectory from the time I graduated from Queens College with my math degree, my bachelor's in math, was basically — I pretty much knew, hey, I'm gonna go teach, because I do enjoy teaching. I do enjoy sharing the little I know, and I really take — I think any person that teaches takes great pleasure when they see someone who is struggling with a problem master that problem. So I started teaching. I joined the Board of Education. I started teaching not far from here, I.S. 126 was the first school that I started teaching. That's right on 21st Street. If you go up towards the north on 21st Street, it'll be there right after Broadway. So I taught there for a couple of years. I thought that was a crazy school. I really thought that it was a very — I have to be sincere, and I thought it was really a crazy school.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=928.0,1001.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: So I left that school after two years. I moved on to William Cullen Bryant High School, which is a high school nearby, and that was by comparison, that was the mecca of learning, you know what I'm saying? [laughs] That was a truly — I mean, a huge difference. It was super organized. There was camaraderie between the staff — not that there wasn't any camaraderie between the staff at I.S. 126, but it was like little clans, like a group here, a group there, and people were very, I don't know if tribalistic is the word, but everybody had their own little group, and they would not — I didn't like it. I just didn't like that atmosphere at I.S. 126. The other place, Bryant High School, was very professional — in my opinion, it was very professional — and I liked that a lot.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1001.0,1063.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: So I worked there for a few years, and then I actually left teaching, and I worked — at the time, it was called TD Waterhouse. Now it's TD Ameritrade and TD Bank. Back then it was TD Waterhouse, down on Wall Street. So I worked there. I was trying to become a broker. I worked there for not long because it was not my thing. I got in there because I had friends in TD Waterhouse that were able to get me into the company, but at the time, I had been studying networking engineering, Windows NT. At the time, it was Windows NT. So I had been studying Windows NT. My friends at TD Waterhouse, a lot of them were in the IT department. That's what I wanted to do. I wanted to get into that. At that point in time, I wanted to get into that. They were not able to get me into the IT section. They were able to get me into the finance section. So they got me a broker section. So I went in there as a broker with the idea that maybe — stay there for a little while and then switch over to IT. But I just didn't really enjoy the broker experience that I had. I was not interested in it. Nothing wrong with it. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it. It is just not for me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1063.0,1160.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: So I went back to teaching. So when I went back to teaching, I taught at a high school in Brooklyn, and I was there for a few years. Then I had an incident there. A student attacked me. So after the student attacked me — I mean, after that happened, it really changed the way I felt. I don't want to go into the details, but the person attacked me and I was — they took me from that school to another school. The Board of Education placed me in another school, but I never felt the same after that. And so I said to myself — and I felt like I was not really, not only myself — that the teachers were not really valued by the administration or even by our union. So I felt kind of betrayed in some ways.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1160.0,1226.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: So I decided to start teaching adults. So that's when I started teaching adults. I was still working at the Board of Ed in that school in Brooklyn. It's called the School for Legal Studies. It's on Grand Street on — I forget what the crossing street is. But anyway, I worked there for a few years and then I left. I started working with 1199 [1199SEIU], which is a union. It's a pretty large union. And basically what they do is they teach — they get their members ready to go into usually nursing careers, health-related careers.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1226.0,1274.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: Allied health, yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1274.0,1275.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: So that's what they do. They have many different programs. I was working in basically all their educational programs. So I was working with what they call college prep, home care — home care is for home health aides. They also have something they used to call HC4 [Health Careers College Core Curriculum] that's just the name of the program. They pay, I think, up to 34 credits, college credits. They pay for that, and after that, the member has to pay on their own, but at least — I think it's 32 or 34 credits that HC4 used to pay for the members. So I worked for all those programs. During that time, I also worked with Barron's Educational Series. I did some publishing with them, GED [General Educational Development] flashcards. I worked with them. This was separate from 1199. I found out about — that they were looking for authors to write flashcards. So this is about 2010, roughly around 2010. So I worked with them. I was still working with 1199. This was just like on the side kind of a deal.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1275.0,1360.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: So I did that. I published math flashcards. That's what I did. There was three authors in that project. One was, I think in science, and I forget what the other person did. You can still find the flashcards on — what do you call that — Amazon. If you go to Amazon, you can still see them. So yeah, that's basically the trajectory I had. And what brought me here is somewhat personal, is basically that when I was working at 1199, I was making decent money. I wasn't complaining about the financial aspect of it, but it was considered part-time, even though I was doing a heck of a lot of hours. Why part-time? Because I was working for different departments. So you're not really working for 1199 per se. You are, but you're working for the independent —","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1360.0,1424.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: You're a subcontractor.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1424.0,1425.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Yeah, exactly. So they don't consider you a full-time person. So what happened was that after a divorce came about in 2013, and after that came about, I realized that I needed a job that had also benefits, because before, at that time, prior to that time, my ex-wife was the one that was providing the benefits. So that's what happened. Life happens. That's why, like I said, life pulls you in different directions. So then I started looking for a job. I was still working at 1199, but since I wasn't getting any benefits from them — the benefit I was getting was money — but I needed more than that. So I started looking and I thought the library would be a good place to look for employment. I thought that I could bring some experience that could definitely be used in the Adult Learning Centers. And so that's how I ended up getting this position. I started right at this location.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1425.0,1500.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: What year was that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1500.0,1501.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: This was 2015 when I started here, in — if I remember, I think it was July of 2015, and I started as a center manager here. I was a center manager at this location at that time, until relatively recently, I was able to switch over to something called instructional manager. And that's my role now in the library. I'm an instructional manager.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1501.0,1532.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: And can you tell us what that's like on an everyday basis? What's a typical workday for you?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1532.0,1537.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Well, a typical workday for me, I usually try to keep one class each semester, so I keep in touch with teaching. So I have one class this semester that I'm not even teaching here. I'm teaching at Rochdale — Rochdale Village. So I teach one class, and I'm actually teaching English. I'm not teaching math there. I'm teaching English for the GED program. I do that. So that's one class. Besides that, what I try to do, what I do is develop curricula. Now, right now I'm working on the WIOA [Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act]. WIOA is one of the funders: W-I-O-A. I forget exactly what each letter stands for, workers initiative, something — I really forget. I don't want to say something wrong. But WIOA is a big funder that the library has. They have their demands as to what they expect the curriculums, the curricula, to be like. So right now, I'm adjusting the curricula, basically I'm working on the English one since I'm doing that English class. But I will be also working on the other four curricula that we have to adjust to the new demands.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1537.0,1631.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: So the demands come from the GED. The GED has four parts, right? Math, social studies, ELA [English Language Arts] — what they call ELA — English, basically. So math, social studies, English, and science. So right now I'm working on the ELA one. After I'm done with that, which should be soon, meaning within a month or so, I will switch over to math and continue with the other ones. I'm also supposed to meet with the lead instructors. Here we have part-time instructors and lead instructors. The lead instructors are the full-time instructors. There's a few. There's not that many. Part-time, we have many. So I meet with them from time to time to let them know of any changes that are relevant to what they do. So that's another task that I'm involved with.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1631.0,1694.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Another task that I'm involved with is this creation of a podcast that we're trying to do. We just recently had our first client, the first person that we interviewed for a podcast, which was one of the staff members from this location, Sabbin Akter [Lead Instructor at the Queens Public Library's Jeanne Elmezzi Long Island City Adult Learning Center]. She's one of the lead instructors. So we interviewed her, and when I say we, it's a little team that we have. It's Brandon Payne [Digital Literacy Lead Instructor for the Queens Public Library's Adult Learner Program]. That's his first name, Brandon, last name Payne. It's Hiba El Hababi [Computer Literacy Instructor at the Queens Public Library's Jeanne Elmezzi Long Island City Adult Learning Center]. So Hiba El Hababi, Brandon Payne, and myself. Brandon is technical, a technical person, he knows the technical end of podcasting. Hiba is extremely great at organizing things, at creating — what do you call that? Questions?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1694.0,1758.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: Scripts?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1758.0,1759.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Yeah, scripts. She's excellent at that. And I am the one that had basically from the very beginning — I spoke with Fatma [Fatma Ghailan, Director of the Queens Public Library's Adult Learner Program] — Fatma spoke with me — Fatma is my director, who — again, I'm a person — the way I was brought up, I am not too much into adulation, I'm not into any of that. But this is a person that really deserves adulation. She's a really nice person. So because of Fatma, we were able to get this off the ground, basically, and we were able to purchase the technical stuff that's needed, and she's being extremely supportive. So that's someone that I'm very grateful to, because it's not every day that you come across someone like that. So I'm basically in charge of that. I try to oversee the development of that project.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1759.0,1821.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Sharon Myrie [Vice President of Programs and Services at Queens Public Library] actually gave me some guidance. She was the one that advised me to contact Meral and Natalie [Meral Agish and Natalie Milbrodt of the Queens Memory Project], which I thought was great advice. I'm very thankful to the three of them. Even just that podcast business, that requires a lot of time, a lot of planning. You know that probably better than I do. So yeah, that's basically — right now — that summarizes a little bit what I'm doing now at the library. And always anybody walks in here, I'm always here for support. Anybody that needs any help — any of us that works at the library, any client walks in through that door, we give them the best type of service that we can give them. That goes without saying — that's obvious.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1821.0,1883.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: Well, that kind of brings me to my next question, and that is about how the library and the ACL [ALC, Adult Learning Centers, corrected by transcript editor] have responded to changing needs in our communities. What trajectories have you seen? What changes have you seen? Where do you think things are going?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1883.0,1899.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Yeah, well, as I'm sure that you're aware, we've had a huge influx of asylum seekers in this area. This area that you find yourself in is surrounded by shelters. So a huge population of asylum seekers has come into this Long Island City neighborhood. I think we have adapted tremendously well to welcoming them, to trying to guide them, find services, whatever services they need. We have our case managers here who are extremely good at that. We provide them with classes, English as a second language classes, that kind of stuff.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1899.0,1946.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: Very important.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1946.0,1947.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Extremely important, especially guiding them. Also because not all of them have the time to be here. Some of them are trying to find jobs. So most jobs are during the same hours that we're open. So they cannot be in both places at once. So again, as far as I see, since 2015 to now — I'm going on nine years now with the library — all I see is the library trying to help the public at all times. And that's up here at the Adult Learning Center, but it's also true downstairs at the actual library. Ms. Smith [Tienya Smith, Community Library Manager at the Queens Public Library's Long Island City location], who's the manager downstairs — great person, super in touch with the community, what's going on around. And again, we try to do the same. We do outreach. I just recently accompanied one of my coworkers to do outreach. Again, that's not part of the description — my job description doesn't include that — but one of my coworkers is gonna go to shelters in the area to hand out flyers.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=1947.0,2022.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: We just recently had a workshop on — I forget the details, but it's for asylum seekers, for people looking to be employed here legally in the United States. And that workshop we thought that these people from the shelters could benefit from. So we went to all of the shelters, and we made sure that — as many shelters as we were able to go to, which were quite a few — to distribute these flyers, and hopefully we'll have a good amount of clients coming in to get the information that will be provided by — I forget the agency's name, but it's a governmental agency, but it's related to immigration. So I don't know if I answered.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2022.0,2077.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: No, you did beautifully. Thank you. Do you have any particular specific stories you would want to share about how Queens Public Library and/or the ACL [ALC, Adult Learning Centers, corrected by transcript editor] have had a positive effect on individual people's lives?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2077.0,2091.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: There's quite a few people that I know benefited tremendously. I just remember their first names. There was a young man named Qais — it's Q-A-I-S — that's one of the reasons I remember his name, 'cause I had never met anybody named Qais, like that. So I think he came from, I forget, it's somewhere maybe like Iraq. It's kind of like around the Middle East. And he came here. He barely knew English. He learned English. This is from when I first started working here. So this is not like yesterday. This is a few years ago. So Qais came, he learned English. He wanted to be a dentist. So he started college after — he learned enough English to join a college. He also moved out of state, but he kept in touch with us. And Qais eventually did not become a dentist. He did not become a dentist, but he did get a bachelor's degree in something related to IT. So I thought that was a real great story to tell.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2091.0,2177.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: One of the people you met out here, her name is Mona [Mona Hassanein, Assistant Adult Education Manager at the Queens Public Library's Jeanne Elmezzi Long Island City Adult Learning Center]. Mona's the assistant manager. Mona came from Egypt, I don't know how many years ago, but 13, 14 years ago, something along those lines. And she started with the library to learn English. She started as a student, and eventually she got hired as a part-time — I think she started as a — I forget — she has a college degree from Egypt. I think she started as a literacy support specialist, if I remember correctly. Don't quote me on that because I might be wrong.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2177.0,2217.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: So she was a student in the ACL [ALC, Adult Learning Centers, corrected by transcript editor] program here?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2217.0,2220.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: She was a student.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2220.0,2220.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: Okay. Wow.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2220.0,2221.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: And then, yeah, and now she's the assistant manager. She started — I know she was a literacy support specialist at some point, and little by little, she has come up the ladder, the business ladder, whatever ladder you call that. So that's a couple. But many of our students have actually gotten employment within the library after they master at least the English skills that they need to master. So I'm telling you, I know this is a good place to be because it's a place that's humble in many ways and well intentioned. So I like that combination of qualities.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2221.0,2267.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: Wonderful. We've talked a little bit around the edges of some of the political things that are going on today. And, what have you observed or experienced in terms of the ways that the larger political context is affecting things here at the library?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2267.0,2287.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: That — as you well know, that's a very complex issue, right? Because again, here you have a million players pulling strings a million different ways. That's how I look at it. As far as the library, for example, take the situation with the asylum seekers. I'm not informed with every single penny that's spent towards that goal of helping them. But I think as a result of that endeavor to try to help these poor people who are coming here in dire need of help, a lot of the resources that might've been allocated to the libraries have gone to — maybe — some of those fundings have definitely gone to help them have shelters and so on and so forth. Have health — what's the word — health insurance. And these are obviously decisions made by politicians. It's difficult to say. I mean, we want to help people, but I mean, being very realistic, there are limits to what anybody can do. There are limits. You can only help so much. So that's basically, I'll keep it at that point because I think that's something that —people have to be realistic.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2287.0,2394.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/61","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Do we want to help? Yes, we want to help, but also look at the source of the problem. I know sometimes you definitely have to help the person that's suffering, that's in front of your face and they're suffering. You have to provide immediate help. But that immediate help is at the surface. The actual cause of the problem is not in front of you. You're seeing the effects of the actual problem. You have to go deeper and you have to see, well, why is this person in front of me in this situation? What happened in their native country that brought them here? And again, I know we cannot fix everybody's problems, but I mean, I think that those monies that are being placed to take care of the immediate problem, maybe those monies, if they were invested previously in correcting certain issues around the world, would've provided a better solution than the patch that we're putting on the boo-boo. That's basically what we're doing. We're putting a patch on the boo-boo. You might heal the boo-boo, but the problem that caused the boo-boo is still there, so it's likely to happen again. So politics, as you know, it's a very complicated world, and I try to keep myself very much informed about everything going on, all the important issues that are going on now. But again, these are very, very intricate problems with very difficult — hopefully, with possible solutions. Hopefully — because we don't even know if some of these problems will have solutions. None of them seem like immediate solutions either. I hope that we can, as —","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2394.0,2515.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/62","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: You know, Lori, sometimes coming here — I've been walking here because my daughter got into a car accident. She's fine, she's fine, but she got into a car accident with my car. So I haven't had a car in a few weeks because it's at the body shop. I'm supposed to be picking it up soon. Anyway, on my way here, sometimes I walk by elementary schools and sometimes looking at those little kids, I see them in the playground, all kinds of little kids from all nations, from all cultures, and they're all playing along together beautifully. And I'm saying to myself, what happens as these little kids grow up? Why do they become so — and again, it's natural, but it's hard. I look at it, and I wish there was more harmony in general. I actually was talking to Hiba, one of my coworkers, about that, what can we do as a people to try to correct all the crazy stuff that we see in the world? Because a lot of it is really stuff that we just wish would not be happening, but it happens. So seeing those little kids really moves me at times because not only do I see them having — I enjoy seeing them having fun, being little children — but I think what I just said, I think about that. I said, why cannot they grow up to be in a more loving kind of an ambience? So I leave that at that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2515.0,2625.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/63","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: And libraries are so important to provide that kind of —","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2625.0,2629.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/64","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2629.0,2629.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/65","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: welcoming intercultural environment —","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2629.0,2631.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/66","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Definitely.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2631.0,2631.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/67","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: Certainly. So that gives us a nice transition to a chance for you to talk a little bit about your hopes for the future of the library and the ACL [ALC, Adult Learning Centers, corrected by transcript editor] program.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2631.0,2644.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/68","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Okay. Well, as far as that goes, I think we're on a pretty good track as far as what we're doing now. Obviously funding plays a key role in what we can offer. The more funding we have — and like I said before, I know there are limits to everything, so I'm pretty much a realist in that sense — but if we can offer more classes — for example, we tend to offer a lot of classes in the morning from 10 o’clock to 2 o’clock. We don't really have that many classes in the late afternoon. And a lot of people cannot come to — a lot of people that need to learn English, I should say, cannot come to our English as a second language classes during the day because they're working. So — excuse me, let me drink a little, because I'm talking a lot. [pause] So if we have the proper funding to offer more classes, I think obviously it would be more beneficial to the public, our communities.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2644.0,2721.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/69","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: Communities.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2721.0,2721.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/70","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Communities, yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2721.0,2722.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/71","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: Late afternoon or evening classes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2722.0,2724.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/72","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Yeah, late afternoon. The library, prior to the pandemic, we used to have two late days. Mondays and Thursdays we would close at 8:00 p.m.. So now it's only Thursdays that we keep it open until 8:00 p.m. So before we were able to offer some classes that would meet Mondays and Thursdays, late evening and so on. I mean, not late evening, late afternoon, early evening. But now, we are offering something now on Thursdays, but I think it ends at 4:30 if I'm not mistaken. Funding again is key to being able to help the community a little bit more — also for us to provide better services. Look, for example, if you look around, if you look right up there [points to ceiling] — you see — that's a problem. That's a leak. We've had that leak for — since I'm here.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2724.0,2805.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/73","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: Wow. OK.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2805.0,2806.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/74","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Since 2015, since I'm at the library — I meant not in the country, but since I'm here in this building, since 2015, we've had that problem. Again, if we had the funding to actually get, let's say, let's get a new roof, which is basically — I'm pointing to that spot, there's a few other spots. So things of that nature. I know the library is doing the best that it can with the limited resources that it has. I'm fully aware of that. I'm not — like I said, I'm very realistic. I try to think logically about things. But we do see that there are certain things that could improve, that need improvement. And I know the library is well aware of them. I know that as well. So they're limited, because again, they're limited by funding. If they don't have the money, there's only so much that they can do with the money they do have, and they do wonderful, wonderful things with the money that they do have. I realize that as well. But yeah, funding would be something that definitely would improve the library's ability to serve the community — better funding, better services, better buildings, facilities and so on. So yeah, that would be something.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2806.0,2892.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/75","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: And I hope — like I said, I hope that the library continues basically on the same track — they can always improve, maybe more outreach might be one way in which — outreach to the community, let the community know what we offer, really inform the community, because many people don't even know what the libraries offer. If we get the message out there of what we offer, I think it can open some people's eyes. And always keeping that welcoming environment. I think that's also key, which here, when I was manager — and I'm not the manager now, but I am in very close contact with the manager and he basically thinks like me along these lines — always make sure that you provide a really welcoming environment to whoever walks in through that door, no matter who it is, no matter what they look like. And that's what we have been doing, especially in this diverse community that we live in. This is an extremely diverse community. So we get people from all walks of life. We treat everybody the same. Nice. Which is what — hopefully that'll stay there in the libraries. So yeah, that's basically it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2892.0,2970.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/76","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: Thank you so much.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2970.0,2971.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/77","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: You're welcome.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2971.0,2972.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/78","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: Are there any other memories or anything else that you'd like to share?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2972.0,2976.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/79","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Well, I guess related to what we're talking about, I guess we've said quite a bit, and it has been really a pleasure to have this opportunity to share the little I've been exposed to, the little I've learned, with you. So that's about it for me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=2976.0,3001.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/80","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lori Rothstein: Well, it's been wonderful to meet you too, Manny. Thank you so much.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=3001.0,3004.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659/transcript/63424/annotation/81","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Manny Villapol: Alright, you're quite welcome. Thank you so much.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1432/collection_resources/120619/file/225659#t=3004.0,3026.02449"}]}]}]}