Month: October 2025

SJ Mercury News ‘Boat Baby’ Author to Speak at Benefit for San José Libraries

By Anne Gelhaus
October 26, 2025 at 7:17 AM PDT

NBC News anchor and correspondent Vicky Nguyen, author of the memoir “Boat Baby,” will be the guest speaker Nov. 15 at the San José Public Library Foundation’s Signature Author Event. Before joining NBC News in New York, Nguyen spent 12 years reporting and anchoring for NBC Bay Area.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Betty Duong, whose family moved to San José following the Vietnam War, will lead a conversation and audience Q & A with Nguyen, who will share her journey as the child of Vietnamese refugees and how her family’s story shaped her life and career. The daughter of immigrants, Duong is the first Vietnamese American and the first Asian American woman to serve on the County Board of Supervisors.

Proceeds from the event support the San José Public Library Foundation, which raises money for the library’s programs and resources. Autographed copies of “Boat Baby” are included with ticket purchases.

The event is set for 1-3 p.m. at Blanco, 12 N. San Pedro St. in downtown San Jose. For tickets, visit sjplf.org/AuthorEvent2025.

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SJPLF Board of Directors Member Spotlight: Jenn Protas

Newest San Jose Public Library Foundation (SJPLF) board member Jenn Protas has always dedicated free time in her busy schedule volunteering despite being a full time lawyer.

For the past 18 years, she has resided in the Bay Area working as a shareholder at Hoge Fenton. As she was searching for a new volunteer position, the Foundation was in the back of her mind.

 “Getting involved with the Foundation was always on my radar,” Jenn said. It wasn’t until a colleague at Hoge Fenton emailed gauging interest for prospective board members that she took initiative to join the board in the spring of 2025. 

However, recently Jenn wasn’t too familiar with libraries. “I have not been active in libraries for a good chunk of my adult life,” she said. “As a kid, I went to the library a lot, but as an adult I had the privilege to buy the books.” 

Once, a friend pointed out the privilege of affording brand new books and directed Jenn to the many resources and opportunities libraries could provide for free. Inspired, Jenn returned to the library looking at a new opportunity: joining the Foundation.

SJPLF Board Retreat 2025

“I wanted to work with an organization that directly affected my local community,” she said, “The Foundation impacts the lives of thousands by driving digital empowerment, and supporting the arts, small businesses, and the workforce.”

“Not everyone has the resources to uplift themselves,” she said. “The library provides a lot of those resources to people who are willing to put in the time and the work, but don’t necessarily have the funds to do so. The more that we have people working and supporting themselves and their families, the better society is in general.”

However, Jenn admitted, “I’m still learning what the Foundation does,” as she only recently had her first board meeting. “I’m looking forward to learning more about everything the organization does and being able to support it in any way I can, including using my own skill set as a lawyer, using my network to help with fundraising activities, and getting more involved in my community.”

For Jenn, passion is integral to her volunteering experiences. “I have served on several boards as a working adult,” she said. “There are a lot of nonprofits out there, and while I am glad they exist, they are all not organizations that I’m personally passionate about giving my time to. For example, I’m interested in how the library can support me as a human and grow my own personal community.”

Jenn encourages people interested in volunteering for the Foundation or even considering joining the board to examine their personal values first. “It’s important for people to find which organizations align with their own interests,” she concluded. “When you are giving their service, you should be invested in it.”

Meet the Board of Directors

Written by Jillian Cheng, Communications Intern

San José Public Library and Foundation Selects Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley as Managing Partner for the Continuation of the San José Aspires Initiative

In April 2021, former San José Mayor Sam Liccardo, in partnership with the San José Public Library and the SJ Public Library Foundation (SJPLF), launched San José Aspires, a program to enable youth in underserved neighborhoods to set goals that chart a path toward receiving a post-secondary education and reduce the barriers that disadvantaged students of color face in accessing academic opportunities.

Focused on breaking down barriers, Aspires enables students in underserved neighborhoods to set goals and chart a path to academic success from 9th grade to graduation by providing a performance-based scholarship program that educates them about college and career choices, as well as individual mentorship and counseling.

After a successful pilot phase, the Library and SJPLF sought a qualified partner to assume long-term oversight and operations for Aspires. We determined Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley as the ideal organization to continue advancing the program’s impact and in May 2024, the program was officially transferred to the Club. Under new leadership, the program continues its mission to reduce barriers to higher education.

Connecting Students to Opportunities

The San José Public Library (Library) and San José Public Library Foundation (SJPLF) believe in a future where San José boasts a high rate of postsecondary success for all students. San Jose Aspires is an innovative partnership created between the Library, former Mayor Sam Liccardo, and SJPLF to reduce financial and informational barriers that students in underserved neighborhoods face when making decisions about college and career choices. Through SJ Aspires, we connect students to opportunities to pursue meaningful postsecondary education and offer scholarship dollars for actions aligned with academic success.

At its core, SJ Aspires aims to change students’ attitudes and behaviors related to graduating high school, succeeding in post-secondary education, and the Silicon Valley workforce. Students enrolled in a participating school who meet the program criteria (first-generation college students and English language learners) are automatically eligible to participate in the program. SJ Aspires student have the opportunity to earn up to $5,000 in scholarships to support their post-secondary education goals and help defray the financial barriers to college. Since SJ Aspires’ inception in 2018, the program has, to date, served 2,129 high school students who have claimed 7,983 scholarship awards, and earned $661,925 scholar dollars.

Beyond the Pilot Phase

With such a successful pilot phase, the Library and SJPLF sought a qualified partner agency to assume long-term oversight and operations for SJ Aspires including program expansion and financial sustainability. The Library and SJPLF reviewed the qualifications of potential partners and determined that the Boys and Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley (BGCSV), is the ideal organization to continue advancing the impact of SJ Aspires.

The Library and SJPLF will work closely with BGCSV through this transition to ensure that the incredible work that has gone into building this program continues to grow and maximize the potential of students, regardless of their economic status or geographic location.

Meet the Students of SJ Aspires

learn more about sj aspires