CURRENT POSITION Library Literacy Center Manager, Queens Public Library, NY DEGREE MLS, Queens College, CUNY, 2024 FAST FACT Atahualpa enjoys playing contact sports and is currently training to get back into rugby. FOLLOW Instagram: @centrocorona and @queensneighborhoodsunited Photo by William Neumann Photography

Supporting Asylum Seekers

An experienced community organizer, Josselyn Atahualpa was excited by the opportunity to tap into the “62 free community spaces” as an employee of the Queens Public Library (QPL).

Atahualpa, the Library Literacy Center Manager, oversees adult education courses in literacy, English as a Second Language, and GED preparation. When she noticed a wave of asylum seekers arriving at the Center beginning in early 2022, Atahaulpa alerted library leadership and pushed QPL to prioritize training on best practices for serving the community. As immigrants engage with the demanding legal processes required to be granted asylum status, she is “committed to making people feel seen, supported, and empowered” and serves as a connector to the rest of what the library has to offer.

“Above all, I want newcomers to have a space and face to trust,” says Atahualpa. She offers individual appointments “to give people the opportunity to share their story with me.…I set up informal workshops teaching people about our transportation system [and] our public benefits, introduce neighborhoods and boroughs, and share any political updates that could impact them,” she says.

Atahualpa “has been a solid bridge in the community,” notes nominator Gary Beharry, assistant director of the Adult Learner Program for QPL. “Josselyn’s passion shines through in every project she spearheads.” Atahualpa adds: “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen. We are in the latter, and I’m ready to step up to the plate.”