Author Archives

I am Regina Libris.

I'm...a Bibliothecaria Rebellatrix ("librarian...because Book Wizard isn't an official job title," at Sharon Elementary School in Alleghany County, VA) wending a way through the seven ages whilst geeking out over Shakespeare & sundry other stuff. I am rather like Hermione Granger and have "conjured" floating candles in our school library. I’m an admirer of Eowyn and would place myself somewhere in the middle of the shieldmaiden-healer spectrum. I am inimitable, I am an original, and yet I am totally #TeamHamilton (see what I did there?). I'm a student in the Longwood University School Librarianship program and an avid reader and lifelong learner (and, apparently, Mistress of the Obvious as well). Any rumors regarding me having a crush on either Stephen Colbert or Chris Martin are completely...irrefutable. That being acknowledged, I am the loyal consort of an unsung prince of Poland and very proud mother of a tornadic, talented, and talkative wunderkind girl and a happyhopper jollyjumper bouncyboy who has a memory like an elephant.

• Librarians, Let’s Confer about Who We Are

  By Lia Fisher Janosz on 11/02/2021 • ( 0 )

  

  This short volume of a post stands between bookends:  #AASL21, which just occurred last week, and the upcoming #VAASL conference, which takes place next week. The word “confer” has been around for over five hundred years; its first known use… Read More ›

• Stepping onto a Soapbox, Part Two: Challenges

  By Lia Fisher Janosz on 10/05/2021 • ( 3 )

  

  In my last post, an acknowledged two-parter, I promised that I’d be back up on my soapbox again in the near future. Well, the future is now. I have a confession to make: I fangirl Jacqueline Woodson. If you haven’t… Read More ›

• Stepping onto a Soapbox, Part One: Aesthetics

  By Lia Fisher Janosz on 08/31/2021 • ( 2 )

  

  When we mention anyone getting up on a soapbox, we generally mean that they are speaking or writing about something that evokes strong feelings within them. The term, which was first noted in print in 1907, was once a literal… Read More ›

• Listening to the Little Voices: Making Students Heard with Your Collection Choices

  By Lia Fisher Janosz on 06/30/2021 • ( 0 )

  

  …It’s just a little voice and if you’re listening Sometimes a little voice Can say the biggest thing… –Sara Bareilles One of the first things that I realized when I became a school librarian and commenced my school librarianship studies… Read More ›

• Consulting the Library’s Crystal Ball: Planning Ahead for the Coming Fall

  By Lia Fisher Janosz on 06/03/2021 • ( 0 )

  

  If we’ve learned anything from the past year, it’s that the poet Robert Burns was right: the best-laid plans often DO go awry.  We’ve all had to pivot quite a bit, think on our feet, and be extraordinarily flexible. Although… Read More ›

• News, Be My Muse, and What Do You Have to Lose? A Librarian’s Potpourri Post

  By Lia Fisher Janosz on 05/13/2021 • ( 1 )

  

  Friends, colleagues, librarians, lend me your ears! My writing usually takes a rather reflective bent. However, this go ‘round, my intents and purposes are of a different nature, and are threefold. First of all, I have an update and some… Read More ›

• You Have Always Been My Safe Home: The School Library

  By Lia Fisher Janosz on 04/07/2021 • ( 2 )

  

  “The library is my safe harbor since I dare not go into the cafeteria alone, a whale surrounded by starving sharks.” — Lisa Fipps, Starfish This month being April, I had a veritable menagerie of subjects swirling about in my… Read More ›

• Resilient Reading: Helping Kids (and Grown-ups!) to Bounce Back with Books

  By Lia Fisher Janosz on 03/03/2021 • ( 0 )

  

  Merriam-Webster offers a twofold definition of the word “resilience”:   1: the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress; 2: an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune… Read More ›

• Assessing Your School Library to Ensure All Students Are Represented

  By Lia Fisher Janosz on 02/04/2021 • ( 3 )

  

  Five Years Ago It seems like many long ages have passed since Lin-Manuel Miranda, accepting the Tony Award for Hamilton’s score, gave an emotional and heartfelt speech (in sonnet form!) that honored his own wife and also gave tribute to… Read More ›

• Get Ready to Make It New: Embracing Change in 2021

  By Lia Fisher Janosz on 01/04/2021 • ( 0 )

  

  Attention is love, what we must give children, mothers, fathers, pets, our friends, the news, the woes of others. What we want to change we curse and then pick up a tool. Bless whatever you can with eyes and hands… Read More ›