Employee Spotlight: Veronica Palensky

APH employees each bring individual talents that come together to help further our vision for a more inclusive world. Veronica Palensky serves as our Metadata and Information Services Librarian where her diligence, attention to detail, and passion for her work brings an excellence that is reflected throughout the entire company. 

Palensky grew up in Mississippi with her mother, who was a college professor, and her father, who played the double bass professionally. Palensky, who also enjoyed playing the double bass, attended UofL on a music scholarship. While there, Palensky came to the realization that she did not want to pursue music as her full-time career. After her mother gave her an aptitude test, the results suggested that Palensky pursue a career as a librarian. She found she loved this idea, so after graduating with her bachelor’s degree in music, she went back to school, obtaining her Masters in Library Science along with a certificate in Archives and Special Collections. 

Prior to coming to APH, Palensky worked as a public librarian, a local historian, and as an archivist. Having the chance to work in several niche roles before coming to APH, Palensky grew in her confidence, skills, and expertise. When her current role opened at APH, she knew it was the perfect match. She applied, and the rest is history — Palensky started working at APH in September of 2023. 

One of Palensky’s favorite things about her job is all of the different hats she gets to wear. She enjoys getting to work with the technical side of maintaining the archives, which includes inputting and manipulating metadata for the Louis database or updating the data on various tactile graphics. Palensky also gets to work with various departments by writing reports, creating literature reviews, or doing other forms of research. Additionally, she works with the Research, Evaluation, and Digital Information Services (READS) department in helping to figure out the different Copyright information for the accessible books. Last, but not least, Palensky gets to work directly with some of the archives and special collections APH has. She works closest with the Blind Musician archive, which Palensky calls “a cool full circle moment,” since she shares a love for both music and the archives.

Palensky appreciates the way her job changes from week to week. Some weeks it might be full of research; and the next week it’s full of cataloging. She finds it all interesting as it allows her to be a life-long learner. While she didn’t know much about APH or the blind and low vision community before starting her job at APH, she now gets the chance to learn more about blindness and assistive technology on a regular basis. Palensky loves that her job allows her to learn something new or develop a new skill each day. 

Even with all of the different jobs and responsibilities Palensky enjoys at APH, she is mostly grateful for the community she gets to work with. Whether it’s inside or outside her department, she knows that APH is full of people who are all working together for something greater. “I love working at APH because of the staff and the community of people. It is such a welcoming and wonderful group of people to work with,” says Palensky. 

Palensky is grateful to work for a company that has a mission like APH’s. Her goal as a librarian is simple: “I want to make a little difference in a lot of people’s lives,” she says. APH allows her to do work that will affect students and people across our nation and beyond. Having that purpose gives Palensky the passion to do every part of her job—no matter how minute—with her full effort and joy.  

Outside of work, Palensky is a Double Bassist with the Louisville Civic Orchestra.  She also enjoys what she calls “grandma activities,” such as cooking, baking, and sewing. Other hobbies include going on walks, hikes, or bike rides, and most recently, weightlifting, which gives her an outlet to grow and learn about something entirely different.

Palensky approaches every aspect of her job with the desire to do it with the utmost care. Her love for what she does is contagious at APH.