Molly Raphael began her career as a youth librarian with the District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL); she spent over 30 years with DCPL and eventually was appointed Director of that system. In 2003, Raphael was recruited to lead the award-winning Multnomah County Library (MCL) in Portland, Oregon. During her tenure, she increased diversity in library employment, collections and programming and was awarded the Arthur Flemming Civil Rights Award. Under her leadership, MCL achieved consistently top national rankings among urban public libraries and the highest gross circulation of any library in the country, surpassing libraries serving much larger populations. MCL, a nationally recognized leader in developing early literacy services and programs to reach out to underserved, culturally diverse communities, was selected in 2009 to receive the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor for museums and libraries.