Cherese McKnight, a Cleveland, Ohio native is super excited to be treasurer of BCALA. Her love of libraries began as a toddler, making frequent trips to the library with her mom for storytime. Yet it wasn’t until after college graduation that she began considering a career in librarianship. Feeling inspired by several black Northeast Ohio librarians, Cherese went on to earn her Master’s in Library and Information Science from Kent State University. Shortly after graduate school, she became the Children’s Librarian at the Maple Heights branch of Cuyahoga County Public Libraries. There she built a strong neighborhood outreach program and learned the ins and outs of union stewardship. A move to Omaha, Nebraska would lead her to a supervisory role at the Abraham’s branch and later South Omaha branch of Omaha Public Libraries.
She went on to manage the Youth Services department for Rockford Public Library.
Now she is the Library Media Specialist for Calvin Coolidge High School, a District of Columbia Public School. When not working at the library she serves her community as a yoga instructor and aides professors across the country as an open-access curator.