[7] She was the second editor of its magazine, Synergy, which won two ALA awards but lost its funding in 1973 after West published an unflattering photograph of Richard Nixon.

[8][9] In 1972, West co-founded Booklegger Press, the first woman-owned American library publisher,[10][11][12] with her partner at the time, librarian Sue Critchfield, and Valerie Wheat.

The press' first publication was an anthology edited by West and Elizabeth Katz entitled Revolting Librarians.

[13] Between 1989 and 2006, West worked as the library director at the San Francisco Zen Center.

The organization works to increase communication between women and connect the public with forms of women-based media.