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About Joe

It All Began in Philly

Okay, it didn’t “all” start in Philly, but I did. My name is Joe Puccio, and I arrived in 1955 at Albert Einstein Medical Center on Old York Road in North Philadelphia. My brother Frank and sister Sue preceded me, while Michael followed two years later. My dad was a guitarist who played as a part of small combos in clubs and the like, while my mom was a waitress. A full indoctrination of all things Philly – including the Eagles (pronounced Iggles) and Phillies – came with growing up in the city.

Twelve years of Philadelphia Public Schools instruction left me with a solid-enough footing to continue into higher education. An A.A. degree from Bucks County Community College and a B.A. degree in mass communications from the University of South Florida launched me into the professional world.  Unfortunately, the professional world was not waiting for me, so it was back to USF for a Master’s degree in library and information science.

From the time I was about thirteen, I worked – cutting grass, bread boy at Dave’s Deli, selling programs at the Army-Navy game, delivering the local shoppers weekly, the Carrier Pigeon, etc. My first library job was as an undergraduate work-study student at the USF Library in 1975. After graduation, I worked at a B. Dalton Bookseller in Philly and then for Winn-Dixie supermarkets in Florida. Returning to USF for my graduate degree beginning in 1980, I snared a fulltime job at the USF Library, working during the day and going to classes in the evening. Once I had my Master’s in hand, I was able to land a twenty-week internship at the Library of Congress in 1983. That temporary opportunity segued into a permanent position and a career at that venerable institution.  I have served in various management positions there since 1989.  Now, I am the Collection Development Officer, which means that I am responsible for planning and monitoring the growth of the Library’s collections.

Through all of this – well at least since the third grade – I have been writing. And I have found that I am most effective when I write about my own experiences. So, here we are, Joe’s Lessons Learned.


Photo Credits

All photos copyright Joseph A. Puccio except as follows.

“Interconnected” by Steve Johnson is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

“Citizens Bank Park” by Peter Bond is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Library of Congress Main Reading Room, December 1, 2017,” by Shawn Miller, CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication.

“Philadelphia City Hall south elevation” by Spikebrennan is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5.

“Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia” by Betp is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Post Office in Fort Davis, Alabama,” by Carol Highsmith, “No known restrictions on publication.”

CIA seal, Central Intelligence Agency, https://www.cia.gov/legacy/headquarters/cia-seal/.

Professor Longhair at the 1975 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival,” uncredited photo in 1975 Tulane “Jambalaya” yearbook, public domain.

“Goodbye, Camry,” by Katy Puccio.

Wave photo by Jack Tindall on Unsplash.

Snow-covered road photo by Ben Parker on Unsplash

Hurricane David, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, https://noaahrd.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/hurricane_david-_florida.jpg.

1960s Wildwood, NJ, postcards, public domain.

Pickles photo by City Foodsters is licensed under CC BY 2.0 and is available on Wikimedia Commons. The image has been cropped for use on this site.

Stop sign by by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

Mouse photo from Smithsonian Institution, Creative Commons Zero license, downloaded from https://www.si.edu/object/perdido-key-beach-mouse:nzp_NZP-20180901-3871CN

Jerry under the Christmas tree by Katy Puccio

Empty wallet photo by Marco Verche is licensed under CC BY 2.0 and was downloaded from Flickr.

Spam photo by Hannes Johnson on Unsplash.

Desk toys photo by Katy Puccio.

One red tulip photo by Rupert Britton on Unsplash

Meeting image – from https://clipartmag.com/group-meeting-clipart, CC BY-NC 4.0 License

Planing wood image – public domain via Wikimedia Commons at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Planing_wood_with_the_grain.PNG#file

Vacuum cleaner salesman photo by Neal B. Johnson is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 and was downloaded from Flickr.

Trust image by Ronda Dorsey on Unsplash 

Jumping image from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jump_play.jpg, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

Supervisor/leadership image – Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

LeSabre photo from Wikimedia Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1963_Buick_LeSabre.jpg

Gift wrapping image from wikiHow – https://www.wikihow.com/Wrap-Books-As-a-Gift. Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 License.

Mummers photo. Carol M. Highsmith via the Library of Congress – https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/highsm.56029/

Ears photo by Magda Ehlers on Pexels – pexels-magda-ehlers-561870

Main Reading Room. Carol M. Highsmith, photographer. View from above showing researcher desks. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C. , 2007. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2007687187/.

Rabbit in the garden photo – https://www.flickr.com/photos/cseeman/41100831750. Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 License.

Polaroid Swinger photo from Wikimedia Commons – Camerafiend at English Wikipedia – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Polaroid_Swinger_2.jpg