Libraries are safe spaces for many people and librarians help manage these spaces, but how much do we know about our school librarian and what she does for us? Donna McAndrews, our school librarian, has been at the high school for nine years, and her job consists of more than just ordering and shelving books.

“I love teaching and working with classes doing research,” McAndrews said. If you’ve ever been in a class where you’ve done research, like an English class, McAndrews has probably helped you. She often helps students find resources and teaches them how to use various databases. “I feel the most useful when everyone is interested in different topics, and I can find resources for them,” she said. 

Her other favorite aspect of being a librarian is getting new books. She’s always looking for diverse books in different genres and thinking about the target audience for each one.  She mentioned that the best part about being a librarian is taking home new books, “I take home a stack of the new books and skim them to know the feel of each one.” She also works with students to figure out which books are popular and which they want on the shelves. “Last year, I worked with Amani Dinar, and we both were able to order diverse titles for our school library,” she said. A big part of buying books is displaying them, but McAndrews is “not a display person.” She mentioned that she wasn’t very good at displays and preferred that others do them.

COVID significantly affected the library, as it became less accessible. We were online for at least a year, and the library became a study hall. Classes used to happen in the nonfiction section, but all of that stopped during COVID. This year though, McAndrews’ first goal is getting the library back to what it was before. Classes have resumed in the library, and it’s now more than just a space for study halls. In the future, there may be another librarian. So McAndrews hopes that they can do more fun reading-related activities, and with a second librarian, organizing will be easier.

The Academic Resource Center (ARC) is a unique part of our library, which started in the spring of 2015. A junior noticed that students needed help, and the club started with 30 tutors. It began as drop-in tutoring, but now they mostly do consistent tutoring. Since then, it has grown, and now there’s a designated space for the tutors. McAndrews is most proud of the ARC because it’s not busy work and it really helps students. She loves when the students tutor and manage it themselves.

As a librarian, she faces many challenges with people who don’t want certain books on the shelves. Nobody has tried to ban a book, but she always gets emails from parents who aren’t happy with various books on the shelves. Once, she got an email asking if she knew books had sexual content. Generally, people target LGBTQ titles and books about critical race theory. In order to ban a book, the individual has to read it first and explain why it should be banned, but people don’t usually follow through because they don’t have any interest in reading the book. A book can’t be removed if it has educational value. For example, the book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou has difficult topics, but it also has educational value, and can’t be banned. 

McAndrews explained that libraries are different from classrooms. People can choose what books they want to read–nobody has to read what’s on the shelves. “Librarians should have resources that meet their needs and understand the space they’re in,” she said. Also, if a family really didn’t want students to read certain books, the librarians could put those aside. Families can restrict what and how many books students can check out.

Being a librarian is a difficult job, and there’s so much to do, but McAndrews loves it. “I don’t know what else I would do other than being a librarian because I love working with kids,” she said. COVID brought on many difficulties, but currently, the library is doing great!