Through the hustle and bustle of the ending semester and winter holidays approaching, I can’t help but think of next semester. I’m a planner. This time of year I begin to plan activities and collaborations, New Year’s Resolutions, and advocacy… Read More ›
This year one of my professional goals was to reflect on how I was promoting a positive reading culture at my school and develop ways to improve it. Improvement implies there is something wrong with what is currently being done…. Read More ›
Several years ago when my co-librarian switched from working in a law library to working in a public school library, her internship was something like our school district saying, ”We’re desperate. You’re hired.” A few years after that it was… Read More ›
Stress management is not a skill that comes naturally. It must be taught. I recall a health class early in my high school years in which we discussed stress management techniques: yelling into a pillow, writing in a journal, talking… Read More ›
I found a small seemingly private room called the Communications Library on a huge college campus in the Midwest. It was tucked in the right corner of an old historical building where glistening concrete floors smelled of Pine Sol. The… Read More ›
Have you ever heard the saying that there is my truth, your truth, and somewhere in the middle, the real truth? Pinpointing the truth is the reason why I always find myself wanting to ask people to prove what they… Read More ›
Advocacy is a single word, but it means so much to the library and librarian profession. As Archibald MacLeish said, “What is more important to a library than anything else–than everything else–is the fact that it exists.” Over the past… Read More ›
I am lucky enough to serve librarians, teachers, and students in Denver Public Schools, which has a wonderful collection of circulating makerspace kits for librarians and teachers to check out–kind of a “try before you buy” concept that provides a… Read More ›
As I posted in the blog post “Through a District Lens” (June 2018) district-level supervising librarians wear many different hats. Usually we are the ones who are responsible for providing library services to district sites. In my case my office… Read More ›
Banned Books Week will be observed September 23-29, 2018. The annual event focuses a spotlight on the never-ending attempts to censor books; however, other types of library resources are also challenged. The non-book censorship attempts may not get as much… Read More ›