Author Archives
Rachel Grover is a middle school librarian in Fairfax County, Virginia, and a member of the board of directors for the Virginia Association of School Librarians. She has published articles on ways to make school libraries accessible for Knowledge Quest and on genrefying the library collection for School Library Connection. She also has developed workshops for beginning librarians for School Library Connection. Rachel was an elementary school teacher for two years before beginning life as a middle-school English teacher in 2009. In 2014, she joined Libraryland, finding a dream job she didn’t even know was her dream! When she is not working, she loves reading, tinkering with technology, traveling, taking photographs, and sleeping in. Her passions include genrefication, makerspaces, technology, collaboration with teachers across the curriculum, and making school libraries equitable and accessible for all learners.
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Reaching Beyond English: Collaboration with Teachers in All Content Areas
This November, when an art class walked into the library with their teacher, the students didn’t seem incredulous that they were there. Rather, there was curiosity brewing on their faces: how in the world would the library connect with what… Read More ›
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Fighting the Good Fight: I See You, School Librarians!
In case you haven’t noticed, school librarians are going through a lot right now in the United States. It seems like something new every day is under attack: our impact on student learning, our budget for providing print and electronic… Read More ›
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The Art of Creating Book Displays (Part 2)
This is the second post in a series about creating book displays in the school library. There is a true art to creating a successful book display, one in which students will stop and scan the titles, maybe browse a… Read More ›
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Creative Book Displays to Get Students Reading (Part 1)
This post is the first in a series that will focus on book displays in school libraries. When students enter my middle-school library, they come with many different backgrounds and opinions about reading. Some of them are super excited about… Read More ›
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Meeting Our Students’ Reading Needs in the Midst of a Pandemic
There is nothing more satisfying than reaching my goal for how many books I can read in a summer. In fact, I pride myself on how many books I can get through in a summer, setting the goal realistically but… Read More ›
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Just Starting Out? Resources and Tips for New School Librarians
It’s that time of year when I start to see many of the same posts online: “I’m a new librarian! Where should I start?” While the responses are all vaguely similar, I wanted to take a minute to compile some… Read More ›
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Supporting Learning with Live Webcams
During the pandemic, something I discovered about myself was that I absolutely adore live webcams. Whether it was laughing at baby kittens play with each other, watching the sunset in Croatia while eating lunch, or experiencing heavy snowstorms in other… Read More ›
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Making This Summer about YOU: Self-Care for School Librarians
Ahh, the feeling of summer. Time to relax, rejuvenate, and for most librarians, catch up on some reading. This school year has been a struggle for everyone: we have reinvented ourselves as librarians, transformed our staff and community outreach, reimagined… Read More ›
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Supporting Students by Collaborating with Counselors
In October 2016, I attended the School Library Journal Leadership Summit and was honored to hear YA author Shaun David Hutchinson speak about the impact of his mental health and sexuality on his writing and his life. He said, “I… Read More ›
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Getting New Students Excited about Your School Library
As we approach the end of the school year, there is a lot on school librarians’ minds and to-do lists: collecting books, taking down bulletin boards, all the other duties as assigned, and if you have a budget or some… Read More ›