April earned her B.A. from Knox College with a double major in chemistry and music in 1994 and she earned her Master of Library Science degree and Certificate of Advanced Study in the Conservation of Library and Archival Materials from the University of Texas at Austin (UT) in 2002. Prior to graduation, she completed a graduate internship in rare books at The Library of Congress, and spent five weeks working in the private archives of the Marqués de Santa Maria de Barbará y de la Manresana in Villasar de Dalt, Spain. After graduation, she worked part-time at the Harry Ransom Center at UT in paper conservation, and part-time as an adjunct professor at UT while starting Booksmith Conservation. She runs Booksmith Conservation while raising a daughter and son with her husband.