EXPERTISE // PEOPLE

Penny Sympson Foresto

Corporate Librarian

 
Experience

Penny Foresto holds a Master of Library and Information Science degree from an American Library Association-accredited university. At WJE, she manages the corporate library, which contains more than ten thousand engineering-related materials, with an emphasis on bridges, concrete, concrete repair, and structural steel. She manages the print and electronic collection of codes, testing standards, material specifications, textbooks, manuals, and reports.

Ms. Foresto supervises the library's administrative staff, maintains the library’s Intranet page and online resources, and performs expert research for more than 600 professional engineers, architects, and materials scientists. In 2010, she was selected to participate in Synergy: The Illinois Library Leadership Initiative. Prior to joining WJE, Ms. Foresto spent three years as a reference librarian at a busy suburban public library and spent eight years as an economist for a government agency, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, where she researched financial and agricultural markets.

Professional Affiliations

Special Libraries Association

Education

Western Illinois University
Bachelor of Business, Economics, 1986
Master of Arts, Economics, 1987

Dominican University
Master of Library and Information Science, 1997