1. What were your main goals as a school librarian. What did you hope to accomplish?
Hoped to accomplish:
Making the library the vital intellectual heart of the school.
Main goals:
Collaborate with classroom teachers in developing and delivering curriculum.
Provide a stimulating, information-rich mix of resources for students, teachers, and staff.
Readers advisory attuned to individual needs.
Provide a safe space for introverts, eccentrics, and vulnerable students.
2. What drove you to the field?
After being laid off a corporate management job at age 47 I became an elementary school teacher. The job wasn’t a good fit and I was looking into becoming a high school English teacher. I visited my daughter’s high school to meet and observe some teachers. My daughter’s English teacher told me, “I know you, and I know a much better option for you. You should be a high school librarian. It’s the best job in K-12. It’s a secret jewel of the system. If I had known about it earlier I would have changed years ago. Come with me, I’ll introduce you to the school librarian.” That moment initiated the best 9 years of my life.
3. What was your favorite thing about being a school librarian?
The privilege of being immersed in a community of a thousand very active teenagers every day.
4. What was your biggest accomplishment as a school librarian?
Earning the trust of students and teachers so I could be a stealth educator in every moment.
5. What was your biggest struggle/setback as a school librarian?
Struggling against the decimation of the Teacher Librarian profession in California public schools, and especially Los Angeles Unified School District.
Helping birth a thriving life planetary consciousness