Melissa Wasilewski has served as youth services librarian at Albany Public Library (APL) for more than seven years. She specializes in programs and services to patrons ages 11 to 18 and is a winner of the Excellence in Service to Young Adults award from the American Library Association. She has worked at several of APL’s seven urban libraries that serve the 95,000 people of New York State’s capital city.
 
Wasilewski has presented at the American Library Association Conference, New York Library Association Conference, Mohawk Valley Library System, and Upper Hudson Library System on topics including library programs for young adults, teen spaces, and what’s trending in teen/tween culture.
 
She has developed and taught a number of classes and programs at APL including website creation, blogging, and digital filmmaking at the library’s summer computer day camp for teens. She has also secured grant funding for several library programs including: “Inspiration Association,” a weekly career exploration group for middle schoolers; “Teen Ambassadors Program,” focusing on employability soft skills training for high schoolers that ended in employment at APL; and “Girls Got Game,” a single-sex summer day camp on basic computer programming.
 
Wasilewski joined APL after earning an MSIS from the University at Albany.