Surrounding himself with his love of books, Fran Feeley is turning the page on a new chapter of his life as the librarian at Jones.

Before his arrival at Jones, Feeley had been the librarian at Inter-American Magnet for nine years. Feeley also worked for 11 years as a school psychologist at schools such as Herbert, Faraday, Cather, and Juarez High School; he was covering 3 at a time. Over the past six years, he was a citywide bilingual school psychologist, traveling around a very large area of the city to administer individual evaluations to students with Spanish language backgrounds.When he became aware of the open librarian position at Jones upon Katie Terry’s relocation to Atlanta, Feeley jumped at the opportunity to apply.

“After many years of giving lots and lots of evaluations, I wanted to personally engage students in learning activities. The transition to the digital age has been occurring throughout my adult life. I knew that libraries were deeply involved in that transition. I wanted to be part of that,” said Feeley. “I also love books, reading, storytelling, and information. I hoped to indulge those personal passions and cultivate skills and passion in students at the same time.”

His main expectation of Jones was a community of students and teachers who were eager to learn, share, and grow as a community. Even in his short tenure, he believes that his expectations have already been accurate.  

During the first few weeks of school, Feeley provided library orientation presentations to all the Freshman Survey of Literature classes, and he worked with each freshman level teacher to tailor presentations to support student assignments. Feeley said this was a great way to start building relationships with students and teachers as well as to lay the groundwork for collaboration on more complex projects.

Students say that Feeley is enthusiastic about his work. He brings a good energy to the library that wouldn’t be there without him. He is relaxed and friendly, as well as always more than willing to help a student out.   

Feeley lives in the Edgewater neighborhood.  He enjoys Mexican, Thai, and Indian food. To work off all of those calories, Feeley enjoys skiing and swimming. Since he is bilingual, Feeley spends most of his travel time in different parts of Mexico.