Homer High School’s librarian, Savanna Webb, was honored as one of the Cortland Rotary Club’s Teachers of the Year. 

She was one of six local teachers to be recognized and the only one from Homer Central School District. 

“It was a whirlwind from learning about it to being awarded it and I think I’m still kind of processing it, but I’m very grateful and very honored,” Webb said. 

She found out that morning and had to rush home to change for the award luncheon a few hours later. At the ceremony each teacher was recognized for their accomplishment. 

This is Webb’s eighteenth year at Homer but only her second in the library. She started student teaching, and spent the next 15 years as an English teacher. 

The switch from being an English teacher to becoming the school’s librarian was not in her plans at all. Mr. Zimmerman, the previous librarian, put a bug in her ear about taking over, which initially she rejected. 

However, the idea stayed with her and eventually she decided to pursue certification as a librarian. 

“I think making the switch is something I'm the most proud of, because I am not a risk taker typically,” Webb said. “I had never thought about switching anything at all, because I was in this path, and this is what I was doing.”

Two years in, she said she is happy with her choice and appreciates the experience she gained in the classroom. 

“I think the biggest thing for me is that I did it and I’m really happy doing this,” Webb said. “I feel like a lot of what I was doing in English and kind of being here and getting to know the staff and the students have prepared me to be a better librarian because I have those connections and I know the curriculums pretty well, and I know what it's like to be a classroom teacher and what I needed in terms of support.”

Mrs. Davenport, a teaching assistant who works with Mrs. Webb in the library, said she has seen the impact Webb has had on the community and school around her. 

“Just the way she works with students helping them with whatever, the personal attention that she gives…it doesn't matter if it's a staff member or a student, if they need help with something she goes from the beginning all the way through to the end,” Davenport said. “And also, the different teachers, whether the classes are coming into the library or in their classrooms, she does an awesome job helping the staff with whatever their needs are.”

In the library, Webb has added new programs while also revitalizing old programs that got lost after COVID, like book club. 

Ruthalina Caravella, a Homer student, said she enjoys being a member of the book club. 

“I love going to book club because I get to hear about new books and get some ideas of books I would be interested in,” Caravella said. “I am so glad to have been a part of the book club in the library, and I strongly recommend that more people come because it is so relaxing and fun.”

Webb also introduced author studies through Zoom, where students were able to listen to writing advice from various famous authors, such as Neal Shusterman and Jason Reynolds.

Additionally, Webb has been working with OCM Boces, where she is partnered with another high school librarian to brainstorm ideas and implement new programs. 

“I'm part of a mentoring thing at OCM Boces where they hook you up with another high school librarian from another school and then everybody gets together, and they've just provided me with a lot of ideas for programming and for just working on your collection and collaborating,” Webb said. “I've been able to push into a lot of different classrooms, which has been really awesome. I was just with the English department for so long, so to work with Mrs. Altman on creating a French section of the library, social studies, music. I've just been able to do so much with different departments too.”

However, Webb is not done with changing the library. This year she changed the shelves in the library to help with the flow and created separate fiction and nonfiction sections. Next year, she hopes to add more programming to give students something to do since cell phones will be banned from “bell to bell.”

“One of the big things I want to tackle next year with the cell phone ban, which will be bell to bell, is just really playing up the programming,” Webb said. “I know that's going to be a really big transition for students and for staff. So I want to invest more in board games and coloring and puzzles and kind of give those with nothing to do who would typically scroll just something to do either by themselves or with others that would maybe help with that a little bit.”

Davenport echoed Webb’s ideas about more activities to get kids in schools off their phones. 

“Well, I would love to see kids get off their phones, and more interaction with each other,” Davenport said. “So if kids are not just scrolling on their phones, then they could, you know, whether it's between a craft or a game or different activities, start conversation, which I think is lacking not just in the high school, but in society overall.”

Of course, a big part of the library and its offerings are the books. 

Currently, Mrs. Webb is reading “The Toll” by Neal Shusterman, “The House in the Cerulean Sea” by TJ Klune, and “The Courage to Dream: Tales of Hope in the Holocaust” by Neal Shusterman for this month’s high school book club, where everyone is reading a graphic novel or graphic non-fiction book. 

Mrs. Davenport is reading “Dressmakers of London” by Julia Kelly, but just recently finished “The Giver of Stars” by Jojo Moyes, which she says is her current favorite book. 

As a librarian, Webb also gets asked to recommend books. Currently her go-to for this is “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt. 

“The one I've been recommending a lot this year is with the octopus, ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures,’ because I feel like you can recommend that to both adults and students, and it would not have been one I would have picked up based on the summary,” Webb said. “I'd read the summary and I wasn't impressed at all. It was one of the first audiobooks that I really just loved. I'm trying to read and listen to different formats because the patrons who come here are doing that too.”

After only two years in the library, Webb has already been recognized as making an impact and she has even bigger plans for the future. 

Webb is re-establishing the primary function of a library: to make it a welcoming place for the students. 

“I participate in the book club but also use the library whenever I need a quiet place to get some work done,” Caravella said. “...Mrs. Webb has made the library a more welcoming place for everyone, and I have seen a lot more people in the library.”