Member profile: Kelly Skovbjerg

Kelly Skovbjerg has had a long and varied career as a librarian in both Germany and several places in the United States. She now works for the public library in Boerne. She was featured recently in Kendall County Woman magazine, where she had good things to say about Impact San Antonio, which she joined last year. Read on to learn more about her interesting life!

How and when did you first hear about Impact San Antonio?

I first heard about Impact SA years ago from a friend but wasn’t in a place to join due to work commitments and having small children.

You joined last year as a shared member. What prompted you to join?

Yes, my mom and I joined together. I was invited to a Zoom recruitment event during Covid. It was perfect timing for me! Hearing from current members and about the lives and interests of potential members was fascinating, and I knew I had to be a part of Impact SA.

What do you think of Impact SA? What impresses you about the organization and its work?

Hands down, it is the most organized volunteer group I’ve ever encountered. I am also so impressed by the caliber of women I have met. They have diverse backgrounds and interests, and all of them believe wholeheartedly in Impact SA and what can be achieved. Everyone seems to be united in the mission and working to accomplish even more community good. That is extremely inspiring to me! And I have learned so much about nonprofit organizations in the greater San Antonio area and their needs.

Have you attended any of our events or otherwise participated in the work of Impact SA?

I attended Grant Award Night last year at the Witte Museum and participated in the making of a recruitment video while there. I served on the Grant Review Committee for Arts & Culture last year and really loved it. I am currently serving as a liaison with Family Violence Prevention Services, a 2021 High Impact Grant awardee.

What activities or roles would you like to take on in the future?

I definitely want to continue to participate in grant review as a member of a committee or as a co-chair of a committee. I was asked to do the latter this summer, but I just couldn’t make it work. Hopefully next summer!

Can you tell me a bit about your interesting career?

I have been a librarian since 1997, starting my career in Stuttgart, Germany, as a reference librarian at the United States European Command. Although there are differences, this was essentially working in a public library on an Army base. It was extremely challenging, but I traveled anytime I could. I met my Danish husband in Germany, and we moved to Washington, D.C., after a few years so that I could take a job at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. I did that for a year and then moved back to Texas, where I am from, to work at Our Lady of the Lake University and then the Patrick Heath Public Library in Boerne, where I’ve been for 20 years now. I have been fortunate enough in my career to work in special, academic, and public libraries. Without a doubt, small public libraries were the fit for me. I have truly loved getting to know my community and helping to plan, design, fundraise, and build a new library that opened in 2011. We are also lucky to be such a trusted institution. Most of the public appreciates what we try to do and realizes that public libraries are so much more than depositories of books. They are about people and helping them acquire the resources and information they need to be the best people they can be, which can only build up the communities in which they live.

If you would like to read the article about Kelly in Kendall County Woman magazine, go to www.kendallcountywoman.com.