The Story So Far: 

In February of 2024, I shared about the re-introduction of a physical library space into my middle school after five years without one. This past school year was the first September since 2018 that my middle school had a physical library space. That space came a LONG way in a year!

(Originally, I didn’t have four stories – I just wanted to parallel a movie title. But as I went, I realized there actually WERE four stories! Fun!) 

Story One: Physical Space Upgrade

In February, I applied for a grant, and was fortunate enough to receive it. I was able to purchase eight feet of steel library shelving and some books to put on them. The shelving made a huge difference in the reconstruction of a library space for my middle school students. I was able to purchase two sets of shelves last year, creating a trio of beautiful new matching shelves. 

Combined with three sets of shelving that were saved from the destruction of the old middle school library, plus another set of shelving from a renovation of a classroom space, I ended up with 48 linear feet of wall shelving, plus 12 feet of free-standing double-sided shelves. It’s really starting to look like a library! 

Story Two: Physical Access Matters

Part of the grant requirements was the stipulation that I had to share an update with the grant-providing foundation at the end of the school year. I had to explain how the grant was used, and what results I saw. This basically became my end of year library report, and I was pleasantly shocked by the information I was able to share. 

In our first year of operation, our new library space circulated over 50% more books in 2024-2025 than in 2023-2024. It is incredible what a difference having physical access to books makes. In 2023-2024, the middle school had a librarian, but physical access to the collection was limited to those times when I was invited (or when I invited myself) to teachers’ rooms with a cart of books – once a month at best. Otherwise, students were limited to browsing covers and summaries in our online catalog. 

Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE AccessIt, and in our first year of use (2023-2024), it boosted our circulation by 23%. But the data doesn’t lie, and having physical access made a huge difference in helping students increase their literacy interactions. 

Story Three (At a Wedding): The Next Generation

Just as the school year was wrapping up, I attended the wedding. Over the course of a weekend, I spent time with the family of my best friend from high school. I hadn’t seen him since the early 2000s, when I met his first born child, an adorable little girl who was wasn’t even walking yet. Said child was the bride at the wedding at the center of this story. 

The next-oldest daughter is in college and is very excited about pursuing a career in librarianship. We had some great, very long, very nerdy discussions about the practice and profession of librarianship. I was stunned by her enthusiasm. She is passionate about the idea of working as a librarian to provide services to young people, probably as a public librarian, but maybe as a school librarian. 

My chats with this librarian-to-be will remain etched in my memory among the other great moments throughout that weekend. It was wonderful to know that there are young folks with a zeal for librarianship, particularly at a time when the field is so besieged by difficulties. Even as we talked about some of those realities, she was undaunted and unflagging in her excitement to help young people connect with the library. Her conviction that the library is one of the most important spaces in a school or community had me nodding along so hard I nearly gave myself whiplash. 

Story Four (At the Same Wedding): It’s Not Bragging – It’s Advocacy! 

My friend used his daughter’s wedding as an opportunity to invite a group of folks who’d hung out in high school. I hadn’t seen the crew in more than 20 years, so we had some catching up to do. 

While talking about their son, someone brought up public education, and middle school in particular. The conversation eventually came around to what I’ve been up to for the past couple decades. After I relayed the story of my work on my school’s library the past 18 months, one of the guys clapped me on the shoulder and, with an expression of complete disbelief, said, “That is amazing. You created a library!” 

I don’t think of what happened in my library space as anything special – I’ve just been doing what needs to be done. But this comment reminded me that all of the wonderful statistics and images I shared in my end of year presentation wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t made it happen. 

So that was a nice little ego boost. But it was also a(nother) reminder to not undersell my efforts. I know I’m not the only one who would rather move on to the next thing instead of taking some time out to celebrate a win. But when I (we) don’t share about what we’re doing, it’s easy to forget that those doings wouldn’t get done if I (we) didn’t do ‘em. And at a time when school librarianship needs all the advocacy we can point at it, we need to help others see that what we’re doing matters. 

What Are YOUR Stories?

I often say, “It’ll either be a great experience, or it’ll make a great story.” I love to tell stories about myself, but generally only when I’m the punchline of the joke. 

But thinking about the end of this school year, I am thinking hard about the importance of telling the story of my library. Because if I don’t, who will? 

I hope you are gathering your stories, and that you bring them to your community. Let them see the great things that happen in your library. Help them understand what a strong, engaging school library program looks like. And who knows? You might inspire the next generation of passionate, engaging librarians who’ll take the field into an amazing future!