Author Archives

Hello, I am the Library Director at The Webb School of Bell Buckle. I use my past experience in college and university libraries to help my current students in school libraries transition into college, career, and life. I am currently the lead Senior Class Adviser for the Capstone Project. I also served at the state level with the Tennessee Association of School Librarians executive board from 2009-2013 and was the TASL president in 2012. I am certified as a Library Information Specialist for PreK-12th grade, have a BS in Communications with a concentration in Advertising and Public Relations, a BS in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Education and Information Systems and a Masters in Library and Information Science.
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Crayola Creativity Week Day One – You Are Going
Creativity Week January is considered International Creativity Month. In celebration, AASL partnered with Crayola to provide a week of sponsored activities in the last week of January. The first day of the Crayola Creativity Week features NASA astronauts with a… Read More ›
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Are you attending LibLearnX?
LibLearnX is the future. One of my favorite library conferences in my 20-plus years in the industry has been the ALA midwinter conference. But according to a December 2021 Publisher Weekly article, “The ALA Midwinter Meeting is history, LibLearnX is… Read More ›
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The Intentionality of School Librarianship in the Sept/Oct 2022 Issue of Knowledge Quest
Who deserves our intention more than children? When librarians heard that Stephen Colbert, host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, would interview Jason Reynolds, Library of Congress’s National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, many stayed up late to watch… Read More ›
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Distinct Library Sections for multi-level schools
Are You a Librarian in a K-8, 6-12, or a K-12 school? School libraries all over the US are part of multi-level schools. In fact, according to 2017-18 NCES data, there are more than15,000 combined schools. For example, in Tennessee,… Read More ›
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April is also National Poetry Month
Could you recommend a SHORT book? As a librarian for tweens and teens, I am always on the quest for extraordinary, shorter novels to offer my patrons. Unfortunately, books now compete with schoolwork, video games, and social media. One of… Read More ›
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Inspiring Intellectual Freedom without adding fuel to the book ban fire
“But I know it when I see it.” This phrase is famous and is a quote by United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart. Stewart gave an opinion on an obscenity case in the 1964 Jacobellis v. Ohio. In the… Read More ›
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Collaboration Definition 1 or 2
When a word means something very different Some words in the English language have two very different meanings—for instance, the word compromise. One person may use the word by its first definition to reach an agreement or meeting in the… Read More ›
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Beyond This Crisis: The Near Future of Our Work in School Libraries
The Recent Past and The Near Future When we say “beyond this crisis,” some may ask which one? We are entering the third year of a global pandemic. The pandemic isolation and current political environment have further exacerbated polarization. And… Read More ›
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Different Information Worlds
More Than a “Filter Bubble” In a two-part post in December of 2020, I discussed polarization and information literacy. Not a month after writing these posts, I watched the events of January 6, 2021, unfold on the big screen in… Read More ›