Amadee Ricketts is the Director of the Cochise County Library District, based in Bisbee, Arizona. Before becoming an administrator, Amadee spent most of her career as a youth services librarian, including ten years in a lead or supervisory capacity. In that role, she planned and presented programs for youth, with a focus on ages 0-5,and trained, evaluated, and supervised professional and paraprofessional staff.
Amadee has presented thousands of storytimes for babies, toddler, and preschoolers in library and classroom settings. Her programs have evolved with the American Library Association’s Every Child Ready to Read framework, which focuses on early literacy skills and parent/caregiver education. She is the author of Gentle Hands and Other Sing-Along Songs for Social-Emotional Learning (Free Spirit Publishing, May 2018), and has presented workshops for college students, library professionals, and teachers.
Amadee has a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Dominican
University, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Minnesota.
