Author Archives

I'm a reader, writer, swimmer, and a public middle school librarian. I love all things Italian. I was honored to be Austin ISD's first librarian of the year in 2013.
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Texas Teen Book Festival
In the Beginning Way back in 2009, Hill Country Middle School Librarian Heather Schubert had a dream. She wanted to gather together new and popular YA authors and connect them to their teen readership in Austin, Texas. She envisioned a… Read More ›
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Library Orientation: The Big Show
Library Orientation: Your Big First Impression If you’re like me, a middle school librarian serving a thousand students, back-to-school library orientations are my big show of the year. My job sounds simple: keep the readers reading and wake up the… Read More ›
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Defending Looking for Alaska
It Was Bound to Happen I never thought it would happen to me. Sure, when I was in library school, we role-played talking down an angry parent during a book challenge, but living in the liberal icon of Austin, I… Read More ›
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Collaboration Brings Authors into Schools
Bookstores and Libraries Adapt to Change Brick-and-mortar bookstores have been under pressure in recent years due to the ubiquitous reach of Amazon and its too-good-to-refuse discounts and delivery. In addition, e-books cost less and have further eroded bookstore profits. Still,… Read More ›
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Freedom to Read: Saving School Libraries–A Presentation at the Network for Public Education Conference
By Susan Polos, School Librarian, Mt. Kisco Elementary School, Mt. Kisco, NY; Sara Sayigh, School Librarian, DuSable Campus, Chicago, IL; and Sara Stevenson, School Librarian, O. Henry Middle School, Austin, TX “It’s an awfully sad misconception that librarians simply check books in… Read More ›