Julie Robinson is the Library’s refugee & immigrant outreach services manager and based at the North-East Branch.  

In September 2014, Robinson started the Refugee & Immigrant Services & Empowerment (RISE) program with the mission “to connect immigrant populations with the quality services, resources, and lifelong learning opportunities of the Library.”  

This year, RISE celebrates 10 years of outreach, education, and advocacy. 

“I consider myself an innovator,” she says. “So, I think of wonderful programs for us to do, classes for us to do. And then I just sort of send it out [into the world.]” 

Robinson started at the Library in 2003 at North-East as an assistant branch manager and children’s and young adult librarian. Later that year, she moved to the Irene H. Ruiz Branch where she worked for 11 years – first, as a branch librarian, then as a branch manager launching the Seed Library – before taking on the RISE leadership role.  

RISE has three full-time staffers and offers, among other things, English basics and conversation classes to teach participants how to navigate daily encounters such as a trip to the grocery store or a visit to the doctor’s office. 

“A lot of times, immigrants and refugees don't have the words or communication skills at that point to advocate for themselves,” says Anne Brown, RISE outreach language specialist, “and a lot of things get overlooked.” 

The program provides driver’s education and financial literacy classes and connects participants to career and vocation opportunities for in-demand professions like carpentry and some levels of nursing.  

RISE also helps participants accomplish other goals, such as becoming U.S. citizens. The Library’s first naturalization ceremony took place in November 2016, just days after the presidential election.  

“Everything that we do is literacy-based, but also empowering the person to create the life that they want to lead,” says Robinson. “And so, we are constantly changing, creating new things, because every group of people that comes has different needs or wants.” 

RISE hosts an annual World Refugee Day at the North-East Branch. It’s part of the community’s observance, celebrated on June 20 each year.  

Arabic, Spanish, Somali, and Swahili are the native languages for many of RISE’s participants. And with the recent influx of Afghan refugees, Farsi, Dari, and Pashto are also now in the mix. 

Robinson says there’s always an opportunity to learn something new about others – and about yourself.  

“Because if you don't get to know the person that lives next door to you, or around the corner from you, and there's no interaction, then you never get to find out about other cultures. You never get to,” she says. “We’re one country. It’d be nice if we were friends.”