The thought of becoming a librarian did not come fast for Gerardo Moore. First, he worked as an English teacher here from 2009 up until 2016. He then traveled around for a bit before coming back to San Antonio and teaching at Burbank High School for three years. After that, he took up the librarian position here at Kennedy back in 2022, working hard to get all the certifications. Moore enrolled in online classes at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville.   

“I took the coursework for library science while I was working, so I would take one or two classes a semester. It took me a long time; it was a grind,” Moore said.   

Although the journey through these classes was long, it was worth it. “It was worth it. It was a lot of work; there was not a lot of free time. It was like if I wanted to take an afternoon off instead of doing it for the classes, I knew it was just going to be worse,” Moore said. His hard work all paid off to end up as our librarian today.   

Moore knew since he was a child that he always wanted to do something with books; he liked to be around them and was always a reader. A natural lover of English and literature. Moore also likes being able to give information to people easily and helping them make sure that information is exact. “I like being around books. But also, I like this idea of being able to get information for people and making sure it is the right information,” Moore said.   

Moore was born and raised in San Antonio, TX, up until he turned 9 years old. Since then, Moore moved around Texas a lot with his family since his dad transferred jobs multiple times. Moore’s childhood ranged over San Antonio, Waco, and Laredo. “I lived here till I was 9, I think. My dad worked with HBC and got transferred first to Waco and then to Laredo, and I lived in Waco for a year and then Laredo for like 8 years before moving back here,” Moore said.   

In recent days, Moore has specific hobbies he likes to do in his free time. He likes to read, of course, watch movies, and collect some of his favorite music. “I like collecting songs. I look for something that has a certain type of music that I like, and I will look for bands that have those kinds of songs. And so, I have this collection of a bunch of singles, CDs, and MP3s I find on Amazon,” Moore said.   

An average school day for Moore differs day by day. “I have kids coming in for IDs, or to return books, or check out books, or a teacher needs help with something going on with their Chromebook, or I must get in touch with the people from technology,” Moore said.   

Overall, Moore endured a long journey to end up here at Kennedy with us. One thing Moore wants is for the library to be a place where teachers bring students more often. There are many untouched books that look brand new.   

“I got a lot of stuff here that I know a lot of people would like, but they need to give it a chance, and we need teachers to bring their classes down to check out books,” Moore said.   

Coming down to the library will not only make Moore happy, but you may just find a book that you will love. It is the perfect place to hang out, read, and do some work. Moore has led a distinguished career as an English teacher and now as a librarian, and he will continue to do so.