Brenda Manning

Brenda Manning

Brenda Manning grew up a few blocks from the Carver Branch of the Anniston Public Library.She considers it luck and a blessing that she was able to come home and get a job that lets her work in the neighborhood she loves.

As the chief librarian at Carver for 18 years, Manning has watched hundreds of children come through the library's reading and enrichment programs.Her story-time sessions are the stuff of legend around the Cooper Homes area, where the library serves as a solid companion to the community center as a place children can go to learn and, Manning hopes, thrive.

Right now, she's working with the Jacksonville State University drama department to set up a program for area Head Starts and day cares that use the library's programs.

"I enjoyed being a part of this setting when I was a child," she says.