Author Archives
I am a School Library Coordinator for the New York City Department of Education's Department of Library Services. I plan and deliver workshops, provide on-site instructional and program support to school librarians, coordinate programs, administer grants, and am program coordinator for MyLibraryNYC, a program administered with our three public library systems.
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Where to Start? Opening a Neglected Library Space
Recently, I went to a school library in lower Manhattan whose neglected space overwhelmed the new librarian and me. Not only were books piled everywhere–library books, classroom titles, those annoyingly thin paperbacks–but discarded furniture, musical instruments, papers, technology, and an… Read More ›
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Time to Clean Up Your Catalog
As the new school year begins, we know we must clean up our library spaces. But what about our virtual spaces–specifically the library catalog? Months of increasing overdue books, possible fines, and outdated lists mean a large discrepancy between what… Read More ›
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If You Have It All, They Probably Won’t Come
The Having-It-All Mentality By having it all, I’m not referring to individuals with a perfect life. Instead, having it all is the old-school librarian philosophy to have a print collection covering every topic and issue known to humans. Having-it-all librarians… Read More ›
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The Joy of Browsing in an Algorithmic World
After a year of placing holds on public library books to pick up (I prefer to read print), I spent a half-hour the other day browsing the shelves. I have certain go-to sections but found myself wandering over to topics… Read More ›
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Collection Development Today: Learning Is Personal
This past year brought a global pandemic, massive protests around policing and racism, a fraught election, a riot at the Capitol, mass unemployment, mass shootings, and our democracy on the brink. And, of course, the impact of these events on… Read More ›
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Being an Active Collaborator
If there is one consistency in our ever-changing school library profession, it is the need to tell the world who we are, what we do, and why we’re essential workers. Remote Collaboration Collaboration is always difficult for educators. But this… Read More ›
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A Vital Resource for Women’s History Month: Women and the American Story
When you think of Women’s Rights, what are the terms that come to mind? What events? What individuals? I think most educators and students would have similar responses. And if you think of those responses, what do they indicate about… Read More ›
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Using Sway to Create Dynamic Resource Curation
Every month in the school calendar is thematic. So school librarians collate resources to share with students and teachers to build knowledge and understanding. Are the resources used? Hard to measure without anecdotal comments or website page traffic. But one… Read More ›
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A Tool for Struggling Readers: Word’s Immersive Reader
Let’s face it: Google dominates the educational landscape with its Classroom program and endless apps: Forms, Slides, Meets, etc. And there are so many technology tools popping up to make learning fun: Wakelet, Flipgrid, Kahoot, with hundreds more to come…. Read More ›
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Your Partner Down the Street: School and Public Library Collaboration
It seems obvious, right, to collaborate with your public library partner, especially during this challenging pandemic year. But like all partnerships under crisis, it’s easy to fall into our respective silos. So I thought a post reminding us about this… Read More ›