TALL Texans 2024: TxASL Members Share Their Leadership Journey 

by Lauren Scott

December 31, 2024

In November, seventeen TxASL members joined the prestigious ranks of the Texas Library Association’s TALL Texans (Texas Accelerated Library Leaders). This transformative three-day program is designed to foster leadership development, offering participants the opportunity to "learn and embrace their potential to initiate change within their institutions, profession, and community." The program covers a wide range of topics, including emotional intelligence, organizational risk-taking, and developing others—empowering librarians to grow both personally and professionally.

To qualify for the TALL Texans program, candidates must have at least five years of experience working in libraries, be a current member of the Texas Library Association (TLA), and demonstrate a strong commitment to improving themselves, their libraries, and their communities.

The Class of 2024 marks the 30th cohort to complete the TALL Texans experience. Each spring, librarians from across Texas apply to be part of this exceptional program. One of its most distinctive features is its inclusivity: it brings together professionals from all types of libraries, including school, academic, public, and special libraries. This year’s class was a diverse mix of school librarians, academic librarians, public librarians, and special librarians.

Upon completing the program, several of the TxASL members who participated in the 2024 cohort shared their reflections on the experience. They discussed the insights they gained and why they believe other school librarians—yes, you—should apply to be part of this remarkable leadership opportunity.

“Tall Texans was an unforgettable experience. My biggest takeaway from TALL Texans was that stakeholders ‘do not know what they do not know.’ Libraries need to tell their story to their patrons and the community for better understanding of their worth. I have always been big on using social media to share my library story, but now that I oversee 32 library programs, I am utilizing storytelling outside of social media. I have made plans to be more active in community events, board workshops, and more in addition to an online presence. The more people who know our story, the better. 

"I encourage school librarians to apply for TALL Texans if you are looking for an opportunity for deep learning of who you are a leader. You will also gain a new network of people who share the same successes and learning opportunities as you. Being a part of TALL Texans helped me grow as a leader, a coach, and as a librarian.” 

Jillian Pratt, Director of Digital Learning and Library Services, Comal ISD

“TALL Texans is a wonderful experience in that you get to spend time with strong librarians who understand what you experience day in and day out. Too often, we are the only ones on our campus and we feel alone in our jobs. I respect TALL Texans because it respects our profession and creates a community that will motivate me to be better.”

Callie Dawson, Lead Librarian, Hutto ISD

“TALL Texans is a chance for you to take moments of reflection and think about your leadership while being surrounded by incredible leaders throughout the state. The takeaway that had the largest impact on me was networking with other librarians and being able to gain insight and friendships. I’m grateful for the encouragement to apply and be a part of something that has such a legacy. Cheers to 30 years of TALL Texans!”

Ashleigh Osborne, Library and Information Technology Educator, Richardson ISD

“The opportunity to interact with librarians from across the state and from a variety of library types was incredibly helpful and affirming. Learning more about leading in my current role was invaluable. So often, we think that only those with a certain title or job description can be leaders, but that’s simply not true! I came away from TALL Texans with a solid plan on how to return to my campus and district and lead from where I am.”

Jolie Jennings, Campus Librarian, Liberty Hill ISD

“I was initially hesitant to apply for TALL Texans, unsure of what to expect. However, I can honestly say it has been one of the most transformative experiences of my career. One of the most powerful lessons I took away from the program was the idea of "leading from where you are." Often, we don’t recognize the influence we have within our own circles or the impact we can make in our organizations. I also deeply value the connections and new friendships I’ve formed with librarians from across the state. I’m incredibly grateful to TLA for offering this opportunity, and I highly encourage other school librarians to apply—you won’t regret it!”

Lauren Scott, Library Media Specialist, McKinney ISD 

Creating a Safe Space Through Morning Makerspace

by Katie Shropshire

December 10, 2024

My favorite thing to hear as a librarian is that our library is a student’s safe space. Over the past four years, I have worked tirelessly to make the Harpool Library a welcoming environment where all students feel they belong. Many students, staff members, and parents have shared with me that the library serves as that space for countless students.

When I started at Harpool, I welcomed students to the library before school to socialize, do homework, and read. What I initially thought would be a fun and engaging way for students to mingle became a challenge. Instead of meaningful interaction, students were creating TikToks and copying each other’s homework rather than collaborating on it. By the end of the year, I knew something had to change. I needed to restructure the mornings to provide a more organized environment while still fostering meaningful interaction among students.

Over the summer, I read many articles about Makerspaces and student engagement, which inspired me to create a dedicated theme for each day of the week. Students always know what is going on each morning, as daily information is posted in our Canvas Course and our Activity Board outside of the library. The following is what I decided to do: 

Mondays are “Maker Mondays.” Students engage in various crafts each week, from creating rubber band bracelets to designing holiday cards. We even invested in a button maker, which the students love. This time allows students of all ages to collaborate and create unique designs. 

Tuesdays are “Tech Tuesdays.” This is the only day students are allowed to use Chromebooks. They participate in Digital Breakouts through Breakout.edu, learn coding skills, and explore robotics by tinkering with different devices.

Wednesdays are “Win It Wednesdays.” This is one of the most popular days. Students enjoy playing games like Uno and chess or bringing in their own games, such as Pokémon cards and the current favorite, Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza.

Thursdays are “Tinker Thursdays.” Another favorite, this day encourages students to build, create, and collaborate using Legos, Magna-Tiles, and KEVA planks.

Fridays are “Fun Fridays.” Students have the freedom to choose any activity from the week. Most students gravitate toward playing games or building, making it a great way to wrap up the week.

This quickly became a hit! During my first year at Harpool, there were 4,451 student sign-ins for morning activities in the library. After just one year of implementing the themed days, that number jumped to 7,691, and it continues to grow each year.

Some students come to the library every day, participating in all the activities, while others prefer to join on specific days like game or tinker days. Each morning is carefully structured with activities, leaving little room for distractions like making TikToks or copying homework. One teacher even nicknamed our morning program “Club Harpool” because of the lines of students eagerly waiting to get into the library.

These activities provide students with a space where they can connect and collaborate in a low-pressure environment. They can be themselves, build, create, and encourage one another. This initiative has fostered a strong sense of community within the library and across the campus.

The Morning Makerspace program has transformed our library into more than just a place for books—it’s a hub of creativity, collaboration, and connection. By providing structured, engaging activities, we’ve created an environment where students feel safe to explore their interests and build meaningful relationships. Watching students grow, thrive, and truly belong has been one of the most rewarding parts of this journey. The Harpool Library has become a cornerstone of our school community, and I am proud to see it continue to serve as a safe and welcoming space for all.

My first year as a librarian was at a large elementary school.  I remember the excitement that my elementary library classes had as they searched for and found books they wanted to read.  When I moved up to the high school library, I found that students were so reluctant to read, and some would even tell me they haven’t read a book since elementary school.  As disheartening as it was for me to hear that over and over with high school students, I wondered what happened between elementary school and high school that made students lose their love for reading.

I began to explore how to support ELA teachers who were wanting to provide students with more opportunities to self-select independent reading materials.  The first step we took was to schedule classes to come in on a regular basis, similar to how they did when they were in elementary.  This definitely helped get most students into the library at least monthly, but I still felt like there was room for improvement.

The opportunity arose for me to become the librarian at our school district’s brand new Liberty High School.  I wanted to be part of setting traditions for our new school, so I began exploring ways to bring back the excitement in reading and being in the library.  I reached out to Kelly Zapico, at Pasadena Memorial High School.  Kelly’s school implemented a reading incentive program utilizing Beanstack and helping motivate students reach their independent reading goals by allowing them to earn honor cords for graduation.

Using Kelly’s program as my inspiration I met with a group of teachers and my principal, explained that I wanted to start a reading incentive program at Liberty, and we set some goals for us and students.  My principal approved us piloting Beanstack for the semester and I began reaching out to local businesses to donate some prizes for each of our reading challenges.

I rolled out the basics of our incentive program with each of our ELA classes during their scheduled library time. Within the first month and a half, students logged over 170,000 minutes of reading in Beanstack. I was completely blown away by how easy it was to create challenges, and how students were actively participating.  Students were not only coming in to check out books during their ELA scheduled class times, they were coming in during lunch and other class periods to get new books.  The level of excitement about independent reading was at an all time high.  

When our education foundation grant application opened at the end of last year, I set my sights high on creating a two year grant proposal, which included two years of Beanstack licensing, student prizes for each month’s reading challenge, graduation honor cords, book club supplies, etc.  This fall I found out my proposal was accepted and fully funded.  It has been extremely exciting to be able to reward students for their independent reading efforts and see both teacher and student buy in go from reluctant to enthusiastic. One of the goals I set for success with this program was to hit 75% participation with students, which we have already met as of last month!

We are still working on improving this program as our school grows, and the small success we have seen is not the result of one particular person, platform, or grant proposal.  There is still so much room for growth and adjustment.  We have learned that a high school reading incentive program doesn’t have to be expensive or high maintenance to be effective. I believe the biggest factor in bringing back the love of reading for our students is the support and buy-in from our admin and teachers, and just being willing to try something different. Over time, the small tweaks and changes add up to building a community and culture where independent reading can be fun…. even in high school!

Embracing Change: Why Our Elementary School Libraries Went Topic-Based

Hello, fellow book lovers and educators! Today, I want to share an exciting transformation I implemented in my 5 elementary school libraries that I believe can serve as inspiration for other libraries looking to engage young readers. After watching student after student search endlessly for that overwhelming call number such as  910.91 Gia, I decided that something needed to change. Thinking back to what I did as a classroom teacher, I decided to reorganize each nonfiction collection into topic-based tubs and move away from the Dewey Decimal System. Let me take you through my thought process and the benefits we’ve already begun to see!

A Fresh Perspective on Nonfiction

As a librarian, my primary goal is to foster a love for reading and learning among our young students. While the Dewey Decimal System has served libraries for decades, I started feeling like it was not user friendly for my elementary-aged children. Many of them felt overwhelmed by shelves and shelves of spines and the seemingly complicated organization system. After observing students struggle to locate books in the nonfiction section, I decided it was time for a change.

Making Learning Accessible

By categorizing our nonfiction books into thematic tubs—like “Football,” “Elephants,” “Optical Illusions,” and “Titanic”—we've created an environment that encourages exploration. The visual appeal of picture labels on tubs makes the topics more inviting, and students can easily find areas that pique their curiosity. This setup allows them to browse without feeling intimidated by a traditional shelf filled with spines and call numbers.

Encouraging Inquiry and Discussion

Grouping books by topic not only simplifies the search process, but it also promotes inquiry-based learning. When students engage with books in a specific area, they can easily connect related topics, sparking curiosity and discussion. For example, a student interested in “Space” can quickly find books on the sun and moon, planets, space travel and astronauts, facilitating a richer understanding of the subject.

Empowering Student Choice

One of the most rewarding aspects of this change is witnessing students take ownership of their learning, sometimes involving books they did not even realize existed. Repeatedly, students have been heard making comments such as “I didn’t know we had books about camping”, while browsing the topic tubs. With these tubs, they can explore their interests freely, selecting books that resonate with them personally. This empowerment fosters a sense of ownership in their learning journey, encouraging them to ask questions, seek answers, and delve deeper into subjects they love.

Feedback and Observations

Since implementing this new system, I’ve observed increased engagement in our nonfiction section. It is rare to see a student leave the library without a nonfiction book in hand. Students are excited to explore the tubs, often spending more time browsing than they did before. Crowds of young readers are often found gathered around one tub, discussing its contents and sharing the excitement as they make their choices. Even reluctant readers have discovered books that capture their attention, leading to more frequent checkouts and discussions about what they’ve read.

An unexpected bonus to this new system has been the shelving. We used to spend most of our time shelving nonfiction books, dreading the tedious aspects of Dewey. Now, even the youngest students are involved in shelving, eager to find the topic tub we call the books home. The decrease in shelving time frees up the librarians time to focus on other, more important aspects of the library…the children. 

Of course, there have been some challenges, mostly attributed to space. Not every book fits into a topic tub, so finding the space to accommodate the ‘leftovers’ leads to creativity. We chose to keep those nonfiction books that tend to just be teacher requests in a separate area, still organized by Dewey (mostly the 400’s).  

This is still a learning process. We’re still figuring out how to best label and organize the tubs for easy navigation. However, the overall response has been overwhelmingly positive, and I’m excited to continue refining this approach.

Transitioning away from the Dewey Decimal System to a topic-based organization may seem unconventional and a little crazy, but I believe it’s a step toward making our library more kid-friendly and engaging for our young learners.  I am thrilled to see our students embracing the world of nonfiction in new and exciting ways.

When I first became the librarian at my PreK-8th charter school in east Fort Worth, the students felt very strongly about reading.  Strongly against it.  Even admitting that you knew how to read as a middle schooler was taboo. How was I going to change these entrenched attitudes about reading? How was I going to shine a spotlight on those students who not only could read, but chose to do so? How was I going to protect those same students from the castigation of their peers? 

 After brainstorming with our district librarian mentor we developed the first concept for our district’s Battle of the Books.  It was such a blessing that we had so many resources to look at in developing our district’s version of the Battle.  We pulled from other Texas school districts with established programs, universities, and other organizations to develop our plans. In the end we decided on using the Bluebonnet list for 3rd-6th grades.The first year was rough.  I had to basically assign students to do the reading and participation wasn’t enthusiastic.  But allowing the entire student body to watch the competition via zoom created hype around the actual competition at the end of the year that bled over into the next year and has snowballed since then.   

Since that first year we’ve adapted and expanded-using the Bluebonnets for 3rd-5th graders to having a middle school Battle using the Lone Star nominees every year. We also added a district competition after pandemic restrictions were lifted. Having this shared collection of books that so many students (and this librarian) are reading from has changed how our students talk about books.  When they go to the Battle of the Books shelves, talk flows around these shared books for all grade levels. 

We recommend and book talk more and more every year.

Are you doing the Battle this year?  Do you have a team yet?

Have you read this one yet? What did you think? 

Oh this is the author of [last year’s battle book], I liked that one! 

This one seems similar to [previous year battle book]. 

Ms. Rockett, which one did you really like again? (The Clackity by Lora Senf was last year’s middle school winner for me, and all my students knew it!)

We also discover books that we wouldn’t have otherwise picked up. I wasn’t sure I was going to like this book, but I stuck with it and I kinda liked it by the end. 

The Battle also gives us a safe space to talk about books that aren’t for us, because not every book is for every reader.  Ms. Rockett, this book is about two boys who like each other and that’s not the book for me. I’m going to turn this one in and get a different Battle Book.

 Do I bribe them? Absolutely! With “fancy” bookmarks (the ones with ribbons or tassels) and cheap erasers.  But half the time the kids forget to ask for their prize because they’re more focused on reading and encouraging their teammates to keep reading.

Over the past 5 years several campuses in our district have tried other challenges like one campus’s long standing genre challenge- students try to read books from as many genres as possible over the course of the year and acquire brag tags and prizes for their efforts. One year I tried a Read Across the World Challenge where students had to read books with either content or characters that originated from across the world.  And those challenges also have their successes but absolutely nothing has come close to the success of the Battle for building a community of readers at our school. Maybe it’s that the Battle Books have their own physical space in my library so kids are always reminded that the Battle is happening. Maybe it’s because they know I also read a lot of the Battle Books for both elementary and middle school. Maybe it’s the team aspect, because everything is more fun when you do it with others. Maybe it’s the actual competition because everyone likes the chance to be a winner.

 I’m not sure of why the Battle is quite so popular or why it has become the force it has on my campus.  The one thing I know for sure is that there’s no problem I’d rather have than students hollering at me in the hallway on Meet the Teacher Night 

“MS. ROCKETT! WHEN CAN I START READING FOR THE BATTLE?!” 

or the small stampede that happens in my library on “opening day” when I open up the Battle Books for check out and word spreads like wildfire through the hallways.  

The Battle of the Books has completely changed what reading looks like for my campus.  In a few short years we’ve gone from “Eww, you’re reading a book?!” to “Do you really not even have a library book checked out? Why would you do that to you

Texas Freedom to Read Project is a labor of love, and countless volunteer hours, by three Texas parents who believe diverse and inclusive stories and libraries belong to our children and our state. Our 501c3 non-profit organization was born out of feelings of desperation and exasperation, and a desire to do more to defend the freedom to read in our state.

Origin Story

Co-founders Laney Hawes (Fort Worth, TX), Frank Strong (Austin, TX) and Anne Russey (Katy, TX) met on Twitter of all places, sometime during 2020-2021. We bonded over the sharp rise in book bans and public school board takeovers by pro-censorship PAC backed trustees that we were witnessing in our own communities and throughout the state. We watched, mostly from the sidelines, during the last Texas legislative session as youth and librarian led organizations, like Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT) and FReadom Fighters, worked to combat the harmful pro-censorship legislation that was being proposed. We noticed parents were largely absent from the efforts to defend the freedom to read, at least in any sort of coordinated way. We looked around for a Texas parent led group we could join or follow- one like our idol/big sister/role model- Florida Freedom to Read Project. Our search eventually led us to look at each other and we realized the parent group we were looking for was us. We launched Texas Freedom to Read Project in November 2023.

What we believe and why we fight

From day one, we have been clear and transparent about who we are, what we believe and support, and what we do not.

We support the freedom for all students' to have access to books they see themselves reflected in, and to read stories about experiences and identities very different from their own. We believe students, who are autonomous human beings, are constitutionally entitled to select books of their choosing. We also recognize that not all reading materials are appropriate for all children at every age.

We trust educators and librarians to partner with parents to ensure developmental and age appropriate access to information and books in the public school setting. We honor individual parents' rights to monitor and regulate their own child's access to materials, but do not believe those rights extend to any one else's child. No one parent should have the ability or right to restrict or prohibit access of information or ideas, they may find disagreeable, from all students.

And while this should go without saying, we do not believe pornography (ie. material that depicts erotic behavior and is intended to cause sexual excitement) belongs in schools.

The Work

Texas Freedom to Read Project supports, connects and mobilizes parent and community led initiatives fighting for student rights, and against censorship and book bans in Texas.

Practically speaking, we are working to identify reliable, local book-loving contacts in every one of Texas’s 1200 public school districts. We host bi-monthly-ish Zoom calls where we connect with and offer practical support to concerned librarians, parents, students and community members from throughout the state. We regularly file public records requests based on tips we receive about shady things happening in school and community libraries, related to things like policies being ignored and books being restricted and removed. We publish content and stories on our website and social media platforms to help tell the stories of censorship in Texas, establish a public record and raise awareness about challenges librarians and library supporters are facing in our state.

Lastly, thanks for all you do as librarians, in service and support of Texans. The work you do, and the positive impact you have on your patrons- young and old- is meaningful and magical, and part of what makes our state great.

As librarians, advocacy and community outreach/involvement are important parts of what we do within the library framework.  Keeping things fun and fresh while simultaneously representing the school library culture in a positive and engaging way is a goal that must constantly be at the forefront of our minds as we make programming decisions.  Holding true to writer Emilie Buchwald’s statement that, “Children are made readers in the laps of their parents,” a considerable effort must be made to reach out to the families of our students and make the campus library a warm and inviting place not just for students, but also for those that support them at home.  

With that in mind,  the first ever Library Games and Book Swap evening was hosted as a joint venture between two sister schools in the Alvin Independent School Distrct.  R. L. Stevenson Primary (a prekindergarten through second grade campus) and Walt Disney Elementary (a third grade through fifth grade campus) came together in the early part of 2024 for a fun-filled family evening intended to highlight different aspects of library services and provide books for families to take home in an effort to enhance their home library collections.  Using “Have a book, bring a book, need a book, take a book” as the tag line, campus librarians began collecting books from around the community in the weeks prior to the event.  There were so many books donated for this event that the cafeteria was the only space large enough to organize and display the books for our families to peruse and choose from.  It is no exaggeration to say that there was not one surface in that cafeteria that wasn’t covered by books!   

Hoping to dispel the myth that libraries are a quiet place and all the campus librarians do all day is read and check out books, a special evening of Library Games was planned in conjunction with the Book Swap festivities. Families were invited to spend the evening participating in games such as an over-sized Jenga Tower (constructed out of library discard boxes), Speed Weeding, Book Balancing, Library Cart Racing (ToMater and LIghtning McQueen decorated and reporting for duty), and Lots of Labels (stamping, stamping, stamping).  Virtual stickerboards were all the rage in the campus computer lab and paper airplanes swooped through the air as a part of a makerspace challenge.  All of these activities served as illustrations of the kinds of activities that are routinely integrated into daily library life.  Family members and students were able to engage with campus librarians, grade level teachers and administrators, and high school students (who were volunteering) in a fun and relaxed setting.  Families were asked to pre-register via either a Google form or paper registrations, but no one was turned away.  

As they checked in on the event night, they were handed an activity card full of the night’s activities.  Families and kids were able to navigate freely between activities, choosing both the order and time spent at each station.  Snacks and drinks were provided throughout the entire evening because everyone knows that  library cart racing can really make you work up a thirst!  As they worked through the various stations, marking each one off upon completion, they moved closer and closer to the grand finale event, which was the Book Swap.  Our families were given bags that they were encouraged to fill with any and all books that caught their eye.  Due to the generous book donations received, most of our families were able to fill multiple bags with books to take home and help build or supplement their personal libraries.  What a glorious sight to see - families browsing through the tables and tables of books and selecting titles to take home.  At the end of the night, fun had been had, books had been distributed, and the myth of the quiet library had been put to rest.  In its place was a new idea that librarians (and by extension libraries)  exist not only to serve our students, but to also build relationships and partner with parents as they work towards establishing a reading culture at home.  

Who knows, maybe Library Games and Book Swap will become an annual event!

While many librarians are familiar with this information and its implications for collection development, I recently attended the #BossLibrarianPD organized by K.C. Boyd, and was introduced to the impactful work of Dr. Andrea Jamison. She presented on “Preserving Equity for Young Readers through Policy and Practice.” Between my exclamations of “she is on fire!” and frantically typing notes, I was able to recognize how much I appreciate learning from someone who helps me reconsider aspects of my practice. 

Dr. Jamison began the presentation by discussing the historical context of libraries, the ways we have messed up, and the ways we can continue to work to improve.. She emphasized the need for the collection development process to list criteria for selecting books that represent the diversity of our communities. She encouraged intentional, clear, and specific language that outlines how to identify books to select. She also suggested including an explanation for why diverse representation is a consideration in the collection development process. Without explicit processes or policies, diverse and authentic representation can become deprioritized, forgotten, or even ignored. 

I started to consider, how can I be more deliberate and effective at ensuring diverse representation? While we have a district process, I can consider my own library practice related to collection development while continuing to meet district expectations. I have started looking at examples from across the country and have included a few below along with a key takeaway or two. I highly recommend taking a look at the documents in depth. What I have included here does not do them justice!

• Limestone School (Kansas) Collection Development Policy: The policy starts with a statement in support of intellectual freedom and listed objectives that include: “Every child deserves to see themselves in books, but equality of representation is not enough. In an effort to counteract historical biases, the Library strives to amplify the voices of historically marginalized groups in an attempt to reach true representational equity.”

• Chicago Public Schools Collection Development Policy: Criteria is listed for selecting materials, including representing “students’ multiple lived experiences and backgrounds, exposing them to new ideas and worldviews different from their own, intentionally embracing student identities and prioritizing representation of historically marginalized communities.” The criteria also includes consideration for diversity of resource formats (e.g., large font; Braille; ebooks; audiobooks) and the “linguistic pluralism of the community.” 

• New York City School Library System Standards for Selecting Materials: This document starts with the question: “Why do we need to provide a balanced collection of materials?” and then asks: “How do we prevent marginalization and celebrate differences?” Addressing these questions seems to embody Dr. Jamison’s suggestion to explain why diverse representation considerations are an essential part of collection development. In addition, this document has questions listed for various criteria that could guide a librarian in supporting diverse representation.

The current context of school libraries can sometimes make me feel that these expectations for diverse representation can be difficult to meet. But I can’t help going back to a statement Dr. Jamison made in reference to the times when oppression, injustice, or inequities threaten our libraries. She said “if racism is codified, we have to be codifying justice in response.” So really, if I was looking for a better time to be sure I am working for justice and supporting diverse representation, this would be it.

Want to learn more from Dr. Jamison? 

Webinar video: Balancing Equity and Freedom in Collection Development Policies

Podcast episode: Dr. Andrea Jamison- Assistant Professor of School Librarianship

Book: Decentering Whiteness in Libraries: A Framework for Inclusive Collection Management Practices

Librarians are Leaders

by Elizabeth Gilbert 

TASL Chair 2024-2025

June 11th, 2024

As this school year wraps up (except for those of us working summer school), it’s time for me to introduce myself to those of you I haven’t been lucky enough to meet in person. My name is Elizabeth Gilbert and I am the TASL Chair for 2024-2025. I have been a teacher and librarian for the last 25 years in Aldine ISD in Houston, TX. I have been actively involved in TLA since I became a librarian 15 years ago, helping with conference planning on our former Local Arrangement Committees, Programming Committees, the Maverick Reading List, and as the Councilor for the Young Adult Round Table. I also have presented widely at conferences, comic cons, and anywhere else people will hand me a microphone. 

The relationships I have built while volunteering in TLA, YART, and TASL have been an amazing learning experience for me as a librarian. I like to tell people that by volunteering and serving in my professional organizations I am trying to give back as much as I can to the organizations and people that have given me so much. 

Those who know me know that I am very passionate about student representation in libraries. I believe deeply that every student deserves to see themselves represented in their school and on the shelves of our libraries.  As a result of my steadfast beliefs about student representation I am also very focused on developing librarians as leaders in their school communities. I believe we are capable of building amazing communities on our campuses that can serve ALL of our students equitably. Which is why it is imperative that we establish ourselves as an irreplaceable member of our school community.

I won’t sugar coat the fact that right now school librarians are facing some unprecedented challenges. We are learning and adapting to the implementation of HB 900, and now we are faced with a school funding shortage. As a result of those budget deficits many school librarian jobs have been cut across the state. 

We are very fortunate to have seen many passionate students and families defending us and relaying the importance of both the services we provide and the communities we build to school boards across the state. I want to encourage all of you and your supporters to continue calling your state representatives to let them know you support school libraries and public schools. Attend school board meetings, and make sure you’re voting in school board elections.  

Librarians are leaders- in our libraries, our schools, and our communities.

Diary of a Children's Book Council Favorites Awards Local Coordinator

by Gloria Covarrubia

May 9th, 2024

First entry

Today was an unexpectedly exciting day. As I sat down to read through the requirements for the Children's Book Council CBC Favorites Local Coordinator role, I couldn't help but feel a rush of enthusiasm. The prospect of becoming the coordinator for our local area, and the possibilities it held for my students, ignited a spark within me.

As I delved into the details of the role, I was struck by the incredible opportunity it presented. The idea that my students could have a say in the selection of books to be included on the CBC Favorites list was truly inspiring. Imagining them eagerly discussing their favorite reads, advocating for the stories that resonated with them most, filled me with pride.

But that wasn't the only thing that caught my attention. A delightful surprise awaited me as I continued reading through the requirements – the promise of approximately 300 free books! The thought of expanding our library collection with such a generous contribution was beyond thrilling. I could already envision the excitement on my students' faces as they eagerly browsed through the new additions, eagerly anticipating the adventures that awaited them within the pages.

The possibilities seemed endless, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of gratitude for the opportunity that lay before me. As I closed the document, I couldn't help but smile. The journey ahead might be filled with challenges, but the rewards – both for my students and myself – were boundless. I was ready to embark on this new chapter and see where it took us. Exciting times lay ahead, and I couldn't wait to see the impact we would make together.

After the first couple of book shipments entry

Today turned out to be a whirlwind of emotions. After diving into the requirements for the CBC Favorites Local Coordinator position and getting all fired up about the possibilities, reality hit me like a ton of bricks! As the books piled up and I began sorting through the titles, a sense of overwhelm crept in. AAAA! What did I get myself into?

The sheer number of books was staggering, and the realization that I didn't have enough time to catalog them all. With my already packed schedule, finding the time to organize and categorize this literary avalanche seemed like an impossible task.

How would I manage this? Would I be able to fulfill the responsibilities of the coordinator role while also keeping up with my other duties? The weight of the challenge felt heavy on my shoulders.

But amidst the chaos and uncertainty, a glimmer of determination emerged. I reminded myself of the reason I took on this role – to provide my students with access to a diverse range of literature and empower them to have a voice in the selection process. That purpose fueled my resolve to tackle this daunting task head-on.

Last entry

It was well worth it!

Throughout this experience, I've come to appreciate just how valuable it is to provide opportunities like this for my students. Exposing them to a wide range of genres and authors not only enriches their reading experiences but also broadens their perspectives and nurtures their curiosity about the world around them.

As I close this chapter, I do so with a renewed sense of purpose and excitement for the future. The impact we can make together is limitless, and I'm eager to continue fostering a love of reading in my students and empowering them to shape the world through their voices and choices.

TLA '24 Conference

by TxASL Talks Committee

April 9, 2024

TxLA 2024 Program Spotlight

Join us for the highly anticipated TLA '24 Conference, where we're bringing together the brightest minds and most innovative ideas in the industry. This year, we're thrilled to highlight some must-attend sessions that promise to enrich your experience and expand your horizons

Tuesday April 16th 11:00-12:00 Convention Center, 2nd Floor: 217 D

Breakout Box Activities Kinder-Fifth Grade - Use Ours or Build Your Own!

Breakout (or escape room)activities put students in the center with hands-on learning. Using clues, puzzles, and locks to decode, students engage in using academic knowledge and soft skills. A quality Breakout activity increases student engagement, problem solving skills, critical thinking, and teamwork; but they can be time-consuming to create and sometimes too difficult for littles to decode. A team of elementary librarians and instructional technology coaches will share TEKS-aligned, fully planned, ready-to-use breakouts for each grade level, kindergarten through fifth grade. Scaffolded plans will help even new kindergarteners develop skills as collaborative learners and critical thinkers. Along with these prepared breakouts, learn a streamlined process for creating Breakouts that teach and reinforce curriculum using various resources: digital methods with Google, homemade methods with hardware store items, and BreakoutEDU purchases.

Tuesday at April 16th, 11:00 am 

"How to Run a Successful Regional Book Battle”

At first glance, two sessions at the upcoming TLA Conference have caught my attention. The first session, "How to Run a Successful Regional Book Battle", is scheduled on Tuesday at 11:00. During a recent conversation with a colleague, we discussed the abundance of book battles tailored for elementary students. It would be interesting to learn from fellow librarians about generating excitement and participation in high school-friendly book battles.

Wednesday, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm: Exhibit Hall 3

Research Poster Session: Counter-Stories as Resistance to Book Bans

Those working to ban books promote a dominant narrative claiming books are harmful, they are protecting children, and they have a right to define appropriateness. The words of Ruby Bridges, George M. Johnson, Adib Khorram, and Maggie Tokuda-Hall operate as counter-stories to disrupt this narrative. If you would like greater insight into why books matter and find even more inspiration to resist book banning, come check out this poster! 

Wednesday, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm: Exhibit Hall 3

Research Poster Session: Librarian Perspectives on Windows and Mirrors in School Libraries

This is a study proposal to examine the role of books as mirrors and windows through the school librarian perspective. If you have interest in better understanding the significance of representation in library book collections and why librarian insight on this issue matters, this is a session for you!

Wednesday April 17th 3:00-4:00 Convention Center, 2nd Floor, 217 B

Level Up: How Supplemental Certifications Boost Your Value and Impact

Librarians have an array of supplemental ambassador and certification programs they can choose from, from LEGO Teacher Ambassador, Ozobot Certified Educator, Google Education to Wakelet Ambassador, there is something for everyone. Learn about the different types and requirements of ambassador and certification programs available to librarians, and how obtaining such certifications can bring empowered learning to your librarianship.

Wednesday April 17th 3:00-4:00 Convention Center, 2nd Floor, 217 B

“Caution! Content Warnings”

Another session that piqued my interest was “Caution! Content Warnings,” on Wednesday at 10:00. This is an idea I’ve been toying with in my own library, knowing certain topics and events in books can be triggering for readers. I am excited to learn more about how to implement this!

Thursday April 16th, 11:30 am

"Young Adult? New Adult? Adult? The Debate Continues" 

The second session that resonates with me is "Young Adult? New Adult? Adult? The Debate Continues" scheduled for Thursday at 11:30. I am interested in insights from librarians and authors on effectively distinguishing between these categories, especially during a time of heightened book challenges when the boundaries between Young Adult and Adult literature often overlap.

Thursday April 16th, 11:30 am

“Dollars and Sense: Making the Most of Library Programs on a Dime”

There are so many amazing sessions to choose from at TLA 2024! One that immediately stood out was “Dollars and Sense: Making the Most of Library Programs on a Dime” Thursday at 11:30. Knowing how our budgets continue to tighten year by year, this session looks like a great way to gain some new ideas to make a big impact on a small budget.

Thursday April 18th, 10:00-11:00 am: Convention Center, 3rd Floor, 303

“Spirit of Texas (SPOT) Reading List YA Author Panel”

If you aren’t familiar with all the amazing free resources offered by the Spirit of Texas committee, swing by these two sessions to learn more about this middle and high school reading list that features Texan authors or books about Texas. The SPOT reading list and resources are tailored for both school and public libraries serving teen readers. The first panel will highlight YA authors featured on this year’s reading list. They will discuss their recent books and how they approach their writing process to reach teen readers.

Thursday April 18th, 1:30-2:30 pm: Convention Center, 2nd Floor, 225 D

“Spirit of Texas (SPOT) Reading List Showcase”

The second panel will discuss the SPOT reading list, including resources to use with teen readers you may not be aware are available. Committee members will book talk this year’s 11 featured SPOT titles and share book club activities, author interviews, and more. If you are interested in learning more about sharing Texan authors and books with your teens or volunteering to serve on the Spirit of Texas committee, make sure you attend these panels at TLA!

Friday April 19th,  8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Convention Center, 2nd Floor: 215

“Library Therapy Dogs: A Pawsitive Way to Promote Literacy”

An elementary school librarian and author of children's picture books about her therapy dogs, Birdie and Stella, will discuss the benefits of having therapy dogs in the library. She will share stories about how her dogs have helped to create a positive and welcoming environment for students, encouraged them to read more, and even helped them to improve their social-emotional skills. The presenter, along with her four-legged co-presenter, will also provide tips on how other librarians can incorporate therapy dogs into their own programs. This presentation will be of interest to librarians who are looking for new and innovative ways to promote literacy among their students, as well as those who are interested in learning more about the benefits of therapy dogs in the library setting.

Friday, April 19th , 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Convention Center, 2nd Floor: 225 B

“Y'all Means All: Creating More Neurodivergent-Friendly Libraries”

The neurodivergent community is thought to comprise 15-20% of the world’s population, but what it means to be neurodivergent, and how this community can be served by libraries is not clearly articulated. Additionally, neurodivergent library staff tend to be underrepresented, undersupported, and misunderstood. By discussing what neurodivergence means - and recommending library practices and design decisions - we hope to make libraries of all types more equitable, inclusive, accessible, and enjoyable for neurodivergent and neurotypical people alike. This session will include a special emphasis on intersectionality, highlighting experiences of neurodivergence in LGBTQ and POC communities.

Libraries and Community

by Janet Sumner Johnson, Author

April 3, 2024

I sat on the floor of my new apartment in Virginia next to a pile of freshly unpacked boxes. My five- and two-year olds played with their toys next to me while I struggled to comfort my two-week old infant. 

I wanted to cry right along with her.

My husband was a brand-new medical resident, and I wouldn’t be seeing much of him over the next three years. My family lived on the other side of the country. My friends were all back in Kansas City. I knew no one, and two months of summer loomed ahead of us before my oldest would start kindergarten.

I felt isolated and alone.

Luckily, I had one trick up my sleeve: the library. 

A quick search on my phone pulled up the Fairfax County Public Library system and a schedule of all the events they had planned—including a kid-friendly concert that very afternoon.

We piled into the car, typed the address into our Garmin (yep, I’m that old), and it wasn’t long before we were snuggled together on a blanket, singing along with a crowd of other moms and kids. In an instant, we went from strangers in a strange place, to part of a community.

Libraries are that powerful. They’re a home away from home, a place to connect, and the heart of any town. 

I know this because my family moved from Virginia, to Missouri, to Oregon, and finally to Utah, and the library was there for us with every move. Before we’d even finished unpacking, we would take a trip to the library. In Virginia, we found a cozy and well-used structure stuffed with books. In Missouri was a state-of-the-art new compound with comfy crannies for reading. Oregon’s brick building was a hodge-podge of rooms, but oh so welcoming. Utah’s was small, but chock full of possibilities. No matter their differences, we always found everything we needed to feel connected to our new community. 

As a young mom on a student’s budget, libraries provided books I couldn’t afford on my own. Movies for inexpensive date-nights, or kids’ entertainment. Internet service when I didn’t have it. An air-conditioned room when ours wasn’t working. Singing times. Story times. Concerts. And so much more.

Libraries were my saving grace.

But libraries aren’t just for young moms. They provide services for all walks of life:

Resumé help, free internet, and classes for job seekers. 

Full on video game systems, games, and controllers for gamers. 

Tax help during tax season. 

Book clubs for readers who want to connect with others. 

In-person classes for life-long learners. 

Online classes for students of all ages. 

Quiet rooms for studying or working. 

A refuge from the cold or heat. 

A community board for posting events or services.

And most importantly, knowledgeable librarians who have not only created this mecca of community, but who are ready and eager to help you with whatever you need.

And this barely scratches the surface.

But it’s not just public libraries that create community. School libraries do the same for students. 

Having moved so many times, my children knew what it meant to be the new kid. The struggle to make new friends. To figure out a new set of rules. To fit in with a new culture. Many times, they came home in tears, wishing we could go back to our old house. 

Our move to Utah was especially challenging for my middle child. He fumbled through that first year, but when he got to seventh grade, he found Mrs. Jensen: middle school librarian extraordinaire.

She not only made the library a haven for kids who felt lost and alone—like my son—but she made reading exciting and fun for all the kids. She got to know the students. She learned their tastes for books, and she sought out stories she knew they’d love. 

She instituted a Battle of the Books program which encouraged students to read outside their normal fare, and she worked with a PTO committee to solicit prizes from local businesses.

I attended the competition, and it was truly epic. Daring students who had formed reading teams raced from one side of the gym to the other as the whole school cheered them on. From athletes, to introverts, to band kids, reading made you cool . . . and connected you to all the other students, no matter their background. 

Mrs. Jensen changed the trajectory of my son. It gathered him in to the school community, something he’d struggled with for over a year.

Though I shared an example from just one school librarian, this is not an isolated incident. School librarians are changing students’ lives across the country. They are creating community and helping students to feel that they belong—the effects of which will reverberate through the world as they become adults.

To create successful communities we cannot pick and choose who we decide to include. And we especially cannot abandon those kids (or adults) who need our support the most. We need everyone. We need their ideas. We need their points-of-view. We need their strength. 

This is why we must all fight to keep books on the shelves. Books that represent the diverse world that we all live in. Books that help individuals thrive and feel that they are not alone—that they are part of a community. 

It’s why we must fight for our libraries—a place we belong by simply showing up. A place where we can find connection despite our differences. A place that gathers us into a community.

Because community is powerful. And libraries are at the heart of it.

NTTBF (North Texas Teen Book Festival) 

Celebrates 10 years of literary field trips & Endless Stories! 

Rose Brock, Ph.D.

February 14,  2024

It’s been almost a decade since the ALA award-winning NTTBF came on the scene in North Texas, and since that time, over 50,000 readers, thousands of educators, and more than five hundred authors have spent the day at the Irving Convention Center taking part in a celebration of “Endless Stories”. While working hard with my colleagues to bring the North Texas Teen Book Festival to enthusiastic readers from around the world is now simply part of my service work to young readers, the book community and beyond, NTTBF’s festival’s origin story is one worth sharing as we prepare and invite you to this year’s 10th celebration.

Our Story

After years of offering dynamic YA author programs in her library, Irving Public Library Teen Services librarian Kristin Treviño reached out to me as she knew my work with school districts in placing touring MG and YA authors in schools for free author visits. Already inspired by the engaging teen festivals happening in the Houston and Austin areas, Kristin asked if I wanted to join her in building a similar event for readers in the DFW area. As a middle school librarian, the idea of building a book festival for kids all over DFW and beyond seemed ambitious, but with twenty years of experience as an educator, I was confident that with the right marketing and buy in from educators and librarians, developing a regional destination literary field trip was absolutely doable. 

Today, while those of us that build and execute NTTBF each year are busy preparing for our 10th event, it’s still a joy to look back at what we’ve accomplished and consider where we might be headed in years to come. Like many good library-focused events that happen in Texas, being awarded three consecutive TSLAC grants was critical to our growth and success, and with that support, creative fundraising, and an investment by the City of Irving and Sam Houston State University, we’ve been able to develop NTTBF into a dynamic two-day event, Ed Day @ NTTBF and NTTBF/The Middle Ground festivals. 

Over the years, NTTBF has become of the largest national day-long celebrations of youth literature, and we’ve built new festival features to add on to our teen event. As a middle school librarian, from the beginning, I was committed to featuring authors and programs that appealed to younger middle grade readers and adding “The Middle Ground” (a festival within the NTTBF festival) was a direct outcome to serve our younger audiences (each year, we have more elementary librarians organizing and bringing groups of kids to our events). More than 85% of our attendees are ages 10 and up, and dedicated engaging and age appropriate programming is at the heart of The Middle Ground.  

Each year on the Friday before the festival, with the support of my university, college, and department, I host Educator Day @ NTTBF, a free, day-long professional development opportunity in partnership with the service centers of Regions 10 and 11. As always, Ed Day is free and open to educators from all over the state and beyond ( to register, you simply create a free account with one of the two partnering service centers and register here: https://www.northtexasteenbookfestival.com/educator-day). 

While there’s no question that TLA provides the most outstanding professional development for librarians and library students, the reality is that not everyone has the freedom and district financial support to allow them to attend TLA’s annual conference, so my goal is remove those barriers and provide an engaging and fun day focused on new books and libraries for all. 

While offering an overview of our history, another great NTTBF experience worth sharing is our choice to not fear the art of strategically abandoning festival features that weren’t working as intended or aren’t executable in ways for which we hoped. The NTTBF Film Festival Partnership with Alamo Draft House was dynamic and fun (we did screenings of films adapted from beloved YA books like The Hate U Give, Dumplin, Let It Snow, and Love Simon —and authors Angie Thomas, Julie Murphy, John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle, and Becky Albertalli appeared in person and held Q and A sessions with teens following the screenings, but not wanting to compete with programming of the actual festival, the task of building audiences of teen readers on school nights leading up to the festival was challenging so NTTBF chose to return to our original mission—a focus on dynamic, engaging, and inclusive free day-long book focused programming open to readers everywhere.

Celebrating NTTBF 10!

With that in mind, NTTBF 10 promises to be an EPIC event; on Educator Day (Friday, April 26, 2024), librarian and teacher favorites Jerry Craft, Lois Lowry, Laurie Halse Anderson, Ruta Sepetys, John Shu, and more than three dozen other authors will be featured, with sponsoring publishers on hand to showcase their newest books and those soon to be published. On Saturday, April 27th, legendary authors like R.L Stine will be on hand as featured authors, along with 75+ other beloved and best-selling Middle Grade and YA authors, including kid favorites Jeff Kinney and Tui Sutherland, and so many others, and our graphic novel track, Get Graphic, will again be hosted by Eisner Award winner and adored author Raina Telgemeier. The stories, in fact, will be endless, and no matter where you are located, I invite you make your way to Irving, Texas to join us April 26-27, 2024. 

The full lineup of our 2024 event is here: https://www.northtexasteenbookfestival.com/authors-24. 

More NTTBF Resources: 

Want to learn all the ways you can participate? If you haven’t ever brought students, the NTTBF website has resources and examples of materials created by librarians available for how to structure a literary field trip.

https://www.northtexasteenbookfestival.com/educators

Centers in the Library

Maribel Marin 

February 1,  2024

 Center Rotations

During each visit to the library, students engage in a multitude of learning experiences as they rotate through various centers. These centers are strategically planned to cater to different aspects and levels of education aligned to the week's lesson, fostering a well-rounded development for the students. Whether it's a reading corner encouraging literary exploration, a research station promoting information literacy, or a collaborative workspace encouraging teamwork with STEM challenges, each center provides a unique opportunity for students to enhance their skills. The rotation system ensures that students have the chance to explore a variety of the many dimensions of knowledge, making their library visits not only informative but also engaging and enriching.

Example of Weekly Center Rotations 

Key Benefits of Implementing Centers in the Library

• Diverse Learning Environments:

  • Centers create diverse learning environments within the library, allowing students to engage in different activities based on their preferences and learning styles.

• Customized Learning Opportunities:

  • Each center can focus on a specific theme or skill, providing customized learning opportunities. For example, there could be a reading center, a technology center, a research center, and more.

• Enhanced Collaboration:

  • Centers encourage collaboration among students, teachers, and librarians. Group activities and projects can take place in designated areas, fostering a sense of community and teamwork.

• Specialized Resources:

  • Centers can house specialized resources relevant to the theme of that particular area. This ensures that students have easy access to materials that support their interests or learning needs.

• Promotion of Information Literacy:

  • Centers dedicated to research or information literacy can provide resources and guidance to enhance students' information literacy skills. This promotes critical thinking and effective research methods.

• Technology Integration:

  • A technology center within the library can facilitate the integration of digital tools and resources into the learning process. Students can engage in activities that leverage technology for educational purposes.

• Flexibility in Use:

  • The modular nature of centers allows for flexibility in space utilization. Different areas can be rearranged or repurposed to accommodate changing needs, events, or collaborative projects.

• Support for Multiple Intelligences:

  • Centers can be designed to cater to different intelligences identified by Howard Gardner's theory. For example, a hands-on makerspace may support students with spatial or kinesthetic intelligences.

• Promotion of Creativity and Innovation:

  • Creative centers, such as makerspaces or art corners, can inspire creativity and innovation. These areas provide a space for students to express themselves through various creative outlets.

• Differentiated Instruction:

  • Centers allow for differentiated instruction, as teachers and librarians can tailor activities to meet the diverse needs of students. This accommodates various learning paces and preferences.

• Student Engagement:

  • The variety of centers can increase student engagement by offering a dynamic and interactive learning environment. Students are more likely to be motivated and enthusiastic about their studies.

• Community Building:

  • Centers can serve as focal points for community-building activities. Workshops, presentations, and collaborative projects in these spaces contribute to a sense of belonging and shared learning.

• Life Skills Development:

  • Certain centers, such as financial literacy or career exploration centers, can contribute to the development of essential life skills, preparing students for real-world challenges.

• Adaptation to Educational Trends:

  • Libraries with centers are better positioned to adapt to emerging educational trends, such as project-based learning, STEAM education, and other innovative teaching approaches.

Implementing centers in the library was a daunting thought at the beginning of my library career, but after seeing the benefits that centers provide all learners, I encourage everyone to try it. Library centers improved the overall educational experience of my students and provided a multifaceted space that aligned with the diverse needs and interests of my students. As for me and my students, I believe that I made the right decision in the integration of centers in the library. One of my most treasured questions to hear when students walk into the library is when they ask, “Miss, are we going to centers today?”

Building a Library Ecosystem: Who to Include & Why

A library ecosystem is the interconnected network of all types of libraries, library workers, volunteers, and associations that provide and facilitate library services for community members; families; K-20 learners; college and university communities; local, state and federal legislatures and government offices; businesses; nonprofits; and other organizations with specific information needs.1 There are so many different stakeholder groups to consider, all equally important yet each requiring different considerations on information to share. I will share info focused on school library ecosystem groups to consider and why.

The first group to consider is district leaders; this group includes the superintendent, assistant superintendents and school board members. As you plan, your school district size should be considered. A larger school district would benefit from a coordinated, strategic district-level approach from all versus a peppering of 20+ separate accounts of what’s happening in libraries. You’ll also want to collectively consider what information to share from a district-level perspective; this could include statistics by grade span (ES/MS/HS or Elem/Sec) such user checkouts, frequently used books or resources, new purchases, etc., programming highlights such as author visits, literacy initiatives, etc., library services such as workshops or trainings for students and staff, new technology resources or opportunities such as 3D printers, Makerspace equipment, etc. and budget/funding information. 

It’s also important to consider your school district guidance regarding communication with your school board members as there may be questions as to what is being shared and why. Explaining your purpose, goals and timelines for your communications offer clear, concise and predictable timelines of information so that transparency and trust is built.  

Many of you may already consider administrators such as principals as critical stakeholders but including assistant principals is equally vital as many eventually ascend into principal positions. Both positions also could be included on district committees or work groups that make decisions impacting school libraries; these committees could include budget or staffing decisions, strategic planning where inquiry, critical thinking and creativity are prioritized or even participation on a reconsideration committee where an understanding about intellectual freedom and the foundational understanding around the purpose of a library is paramount.

 Sara Kelly Johns and Jen Alvino, "One Voice: Building a Strong Library Ecosystem," American Library Association, accessed January 3, 2024, https://www.ala.org/advocacy/ala-ecosystem-initiative. 

A third group to include in communications are teachers on your campus as they may have varying degrees of understanding regarding the library. This is especially true if a librarian is unable to meet consistently and frequently or the campus size is large. Sharing important information regarding how you can support them along with sprinkling library data regarding programming, resources and statistics builds their knowledge-base, keeps them up to date on library happenings and offers a peek into what libraries do today.

Students are another group to consider sharing the library story with. The information you share may be dependent on the age range. Understanding of library information shared differs from elementary to middle to high school students but each group mentioned have been known to speak up in support of school libraries at the local level such as at school board meetings. Sometimes students have been known to speak at the state level too, advocating recently on the many book bans happening and launching banned book clubs, speaking at legislative hearings and even speaking to news media. 

The last groups to consider include PTA’s/PTO’s, booster clubs, district education foundations, community organizations and public/academic libraries. These groups engage potential library supporters at the parent, and local community level. Sharing what you do, how many students you reach and the programs you coordinate initially helps build understanding and becomes a window to understanding your impact. These could eventually lead to partnership opportunities that are mutually beneficial to all involved.

The background library knowledge with each group does not happen accidentally. A resilient library ecosystem may launch with a basic understanding of library happenings but it grows roots with the information you share, grounded in the strong relationships you forge; those relationships can facilitate eventual conversations about library goals, increase stakeholder comprehension about the work of librarians, and create allies who will step up in challenging times and speak to their circles of influence to share your library story.

What Can These Actions Look Like

There are many actions librarians can take and this is where creativity is required and jumping upon opportunities comes into play. 

Back in Fall 2021, a recently appointed school board member eventually won her spot on our school board. Her election took place at an atypical time and our librarians happen to be meeting the week after the election results were announced. I had the idea to have all of our librarians each write a short note congratulating her, welcoming her and thanking her for her willingness to dedicate her time to our school district. Each person wrote their note and included their name, library positions (ES/MS/HS), and campus. I then delivered them to our district superintendent’s administrative assistant to pass along; we received a follow up email (see image below). This small positive action meant a great deal to this newly elected board member and opened the door to future interactions.

This is one example to connect with the school board but there are many additional ideas such as inviting a board member to a library event, honoring them during school board appreciation month, and more.

Finally, we also need to seek all potential ways to build understanding about the work we do. The most obvious way to do this is with reports; this could be monthly, quarterly, semester or annual reports written up via a newsletter or infographic. There are also alternate avenues to building relationships with others; considering the potential entry-points for these relationship-building opportunities is something that should be tucked in the back of your mind so that when openings come your way, you jump on them. For example, you may be invited to participate in a district-wide committee on strategic planning or asked to represent your campus or librarian group on various other district initiatives. Through those invitations, you will be able to connect with others and consider library impacts or opportunities for librarians to support students, teachers or administrators.

Sharing builds understanding regarding the behind the scenes library work completed to impact student achievement, grow life-long reading habits and how the library connects and enhances a school community within a school district. It can also proactively build trust and create transparency within your community, potentially growing a stakeholder ecosystem which can support librarians and the programs they build should threats to libraries evolve.

Your proactive investment in time and reflection can make all the difference in the area of advocacy should a need ever arise.

Final Thoughts

Telling the library story is critical now more than ever. There have been changes on the technology and digital front, the types of resources available to students, what we teach and how we partner with teachers, our library spaces and so much more. Many librarians have also been challenged on the intellectual freedom frontlines due to the misinformation being shared or the lack of understanding regarding how libraries are set up.

As leaders, we must prioritize creating awareness of our profession, the work we do and thoughtfully consider which stakeholders to consider. It’s also equally important to consider how often to share information about our practice, what information to include and the format you will use to share information. We must also support one another, and nudge our colleagues to consider opportunities they may not have considered. We are #bettertogether

I’ve shared some ideas but one thing I love and appreciate about our library profession is how much we share and get inspired by one another; I hope you will share what you do in the blog comments below so that we continue to learn from one another. I look forward to reading and learning from you!

Resources:

Here are some additional links and tools you can read with the hope they inspire you as you set goals for yourself, your libraries and/or your school district:

• Texas Library Association advocacy tools

• Kentucky School Library Media Resources

  • Library Infographics and Reports

• American Library Association Ecosystem Initiative

ALA Ecosystem Continuum, a rubric to help organizations examine the library environment 

Little Program, Big Impact

Guyer High School Library Team Denton ISD

Kim Reichenbach Krutka, co-librarian

Erin Marshall, co-librarian

Lacie Block, library aide extraordinaire

December 5th, 2023

Libraries: the rainbows in other people’s clouds and fortresses of solitude.

Torrey Maldonado, Author

November 7th, 2023

Imagine you're an elementary school boy and you open Life magazine and see its nine-pages calling your Brooklyn neighborhood “One of the Ten Worst Neighborhoods in the Country” and “The Crack Capital of the U.S.A.”. Imagine on your worst days you think Life was too nice in its description of your housing projects and on great days you realize there might be a village in your ghetto helping to steer you from falling into misfortune or fatal traps that relatives and neighbors who were way smarter than you fell into. Imagine young you realizing your biggest champion in that village is your mom. Imagine her clutching your tiny hands, advising, “Life is tough, but you can be tougher”. Imagine starting to believe her, and you ask for her secret to being tougher than your hood, and she says to take three steps. And just as the door to freedom seems to be opening, you know walking the path she outlines means problems. It means fights. You’ll be bullied. Imagine she says the path to strength is to “Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud”, “Bury yourself in the worlds of books” and “Use the libraries. It’ll help”. And you know you’ll be bullied for following her tips because your peers and almost everyone you know wants to be known for their mean right hook instead of reading books—that the code of your mean New York City streets is the Mobb Deep rap group anthem “Survival of the fittest. Only the strong survives”. That “might is right”. Because daily you see how nerds get pummeled for sticking out and “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down”. You see how anger seems to be winning. You see how people aren’t following Maya Angelou’s quote “Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud” but they’re raging and causing more cloudiness and storms.

Now imagine fast forwarding through years of trying your mom’s advice and it means you get bullied for being bookish. It means getting hammered for acting and thinking outside the box. But eventually you don’t break down but you get a breakthrough, a break in the clouds. Your mom’s wisdom proves true, and you become the first of your siblings to graduate high school. Following her advice helps cast such a rainbow in your cloudy life that your pot of gold is you won’t go away to jail like your dad, stepdad, uncles, and so many men you knew who were locked up at your age. You’re not getting put six feet under like other uncles, relatives, and neighbors. Instead, you’re going away to college. Imagine fast forwarding to becoming an educator like your mom. You also become a published author at the same time. Imagine in adulthood re-realizing your mom was right all along and your thanks to her is you’re writing a book that will be a love note to her. Imagine you call the book Hands because so many hands helped steer you around traps and the book is also a love letter to your community and every village that helps build up a child up and not knocks them down. Now imagine your mom dying right before your ode to her is published, and the weight of her death almost breaks your brain. Imagine hiding your grief as long as you can until you don’t know where to turn,  then somewhere in the toughest part of grieving you remember her advice: “Life is tough but you can be tougher”, “Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud”, “Bury yourself in the worlds of books” and “Use the libraries. It’ll help”. Imagine doing that, and her advice helps save you, again.

That is a part of my journey. 

My mom died last year around this time. If you lost someone who’s foundational to you, you can empathize. My single mom was my mom, my dad, and my everything for so long that most don’t fully comprehend how foundational she was to me, a rock. On the back of Hands, the former National Ambassador for Young People, Jacqueline Woodson, says, “Maldonado is a force in the world of young peoples’ literature, and Hands cements his grace and gift”. Hands is about positive change and how librarians can be a force and ports in children’s and families’ storms. Countless readers share how much they love the neighborhood librarian—Uncle Larry—who does for Trev what librarians did for me. I literally ran into our projects’ library once to avoid being jumped by several kids who started a fight with me. That moment and other instances led me to know what I told Amanda Jones, librarian and co-chair of the American Association of School Librarians and past president of Louisiana Association of School Librarians. I said, “Libraries are superhero lairs. As a boy, amazing ones were my fortress of solitude where ‘window and mirror’ readings (Rudine Sims Bishop) strengthened me how the Sun empowers Superman. I went from at-risk to writing books that help young people be their own type of real-world heroes’.

By pointing me to books my mom showed me portals that transported me and revealed that my world was bigger than my zip code. Books taught me my whole life didn’t have to be my block. Reading became my magic carpet ride out of poverty. It was tough growing up where I did, navigating a community and family that were torn apart. I often felt alone. The healing balm on the raw absence of togetherness was books. When I was a boy, my mom had the only library in all the projects’ apartments I visited. And she’d pull a book from it and read to me. As a boy, I loved watching my mom’s eyes smile as read-alouds gave us access to things we needed—things that all humans need. Books made me feel a togetherness, a validation, a space to feel things, and ways to work through issues in ways that left me strengthened. When she read to me, I felt the rapper Tupac’s words were true: “And suddenly the ghetto didn't seem so tough. And though we had it rough, we always had enough”. Books made me feel we had enough. So I buried myself in them and libraries and it strengthened me in immaterial, invaluable, immeasurable ways.

What my mom, books, and libraries poured into me bubbled up a desire in me to rewrite my story into one where I wouldn’t stay poor and living in a cycle of poverty. The love of reading instilled by my mom helped inspire me to want to teach and write. Today, I do both. This year I approach over twenty-five years as a teacher. New York City Chancellors of schools have honored me as a top educator. My Middle Grade books are used in schools across our nation to offer readers what books and libraries gave me—fortresses of solitude and “window and mirror” texts to strengthen young readers how the Sun empowers Superman so they unleash the superheroism in them and be their own type of real-world heroes.

Today, children’s fortress of solitudes—libraries and the diverse books they deserve to have—are under attack. Today, kids run into libraries how I did, for physical, emotional, and social safety. What will greet them when they’re in the library? Intact safety nets in the form of diverse collections? Or tattered safety nets with missing stories? All libraries deserve to have types of texts that strengthened me and showed me many identities that led to my multidimensionality. Today, let’s hope kids run into the library and find the same—a magic carpet ride maybe out of hardships and rainbowed realities that help them be rainbows in others’ clouds. Maybe kids run into libraries and just find solitude. Everyone needs solitude. In every Superman story, he has his fortress of solitude. I ask for libraries and librarians to resist attacks to your fortress of solitudes. But I’m not a librarian and if I were and my library was under attack, I might feel what I felt when I was a bullied boy. So I’ll share the secret to being tougher than the current climate and the secret to being tougher than attackers. It’s advice that my biggest champion gave to me. My mom would ask you to take three steps. And it’s the door of FREADom. Know that walking the path means problems. It means fights. You’ll be bullied. But know it’s the path to strength because it strengthened me. Imagine my mom saying, “Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud”, “Bury yourself in the worlds of books” and “Use the libraries. It’ll help”. We see every day how libraries, librarians, and educators are getting pummeled because we stick out and stand on the correct side of history that Dr. King, Jr. says “bends toward justice” and, yes, “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down”. True, it seems aggressive, angry tactics to ban books seem to be winning.

But imagine fast forwarding through these fights to let kids be unlimited in their bookishness. Imagine fast forwarding passed being hammered for acting and thinking outside of prescribed boxes. Eventually, we won’t break down, but will get breakthroughs and will see breaks in the clouds. And imagine that the work we did through books and libraries helps cast rainbows in cloudiness and stormy times. Imagine that the pots of gold will be that young people won’t go the blinded path of repeating mistakes or staying limited yet they become multidimensional and the everyday superheroes we know they can be and the change we need. Imagine that our fight for inclusive libraries gives young readers access to vital things—magic, empowerment, togetherness, validation, space to feel things, and ways to work through issues how libraries left me strengthened.

I lost my mom—I lost what was foundational to me. But I did not lose her lessons. Let’s not lose what is foundational to everyone—libraries and the protection libraries offer.

Someone recently asked me, “Will you ever get over the death of your mom?” I didn’t know how to answer that, but now I know that it’s not about getting over her death—it’s about a lot more, including continuing to follow the steps my mom outlined that includes books and libraries. “Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud” and “Use the libraries” because “It’ll help” to continue to be a rainbow and cast rainbows.

2023 AASL Conference: Educating, Inspiring, & Pushing

Kim Reichenbach Krutka

Guyer High School Librarian * Denton ISD

October 24th, 2023

I have long felt inspired by fellow librarians and how they spark ideas for my own library practice. My first AASL conference in Tampa furthered this appreciation and admiration. Before I delve into my experience at the conference, I have to talk about Tampa. The weather was beautiful, sunny, and mild and the sunrises and sunsets were mesmerizing. I could walk to stores (including a CVS to pick-up a toothbrush I forgot to pack!), restaurants, and running trails. I absolutely loved it! Now, to the conference itself… AASL exceeded my expectations in the many ways it educated, inspired, and pushed me to be a better librarian. 

Pushing Me: 

It is probably not too surprising that a library conference educated and inspired me. But the greatest part of AASL was how it pushed me as a librarian. From the start of the conference, I felt a push to question what is and work for something better. Throughout the sessions I attended there was recognition of injustices in society and in our libraries, such as anti-Black violence and oppressive legislation that denies the identity and experience of queer people. The first general session featured the unbelievable artist and book illustrator, Nikkolas Smith. He discussed his artivism- the way he is an activist through his art. He talked about what it feels like and means to be Black in America. He challenged us to ask- what stories are being told? Who is making the decisions for what stories are being told? And as librarians, what are we conveying to kids with the stories we include or exclude? 

The talented and powerful author Nic Stone discussed the lack of conversations about and support for mental illness, as well as anti-Blackness and anti-Semitism and its impact on a variety of societal issues, including book challenges. She encouraged librarians, saying that our work is vital because we are making sure kids have access to knowledge. She suggested that we, as purchasers of books, need to speak out and continuously communicate to publishers what types of books we want. That we do have power and we need to use it. If we want to continue to see the identities and stories of those who have traditionally been marginalized, we need to be vocal about that. She concluded her talk with a challenge to “look at what is, develop what ifs, and make them what will be.”

While I could say much more about the ways I was pushed to be and do better, I want to conclude with the words of a 19 year old from Texas. Cameron Samuels was a student in Katy ISD, is a co-founder of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT), and also drops by the US Senate Judiciary Committees to testify about the impact of book bans. (What!) He lives in a way that pushes me to do more. In one of the conference’s general sessions he said this: “I wanted to grow up in a school district that affirmed me… and unfortunately that just wasn’t the case.” I want to be a part of a school district that affirms our students. And I must disrupt all of the ways that we are not living up to that call. 

I am lucky to be able to attend conferences that further develop my professional knowledge and skills. The AASL conference not only educated and inspired me, it pushed me to question the status quo and expect better from myself and from our libraries. So, let’s get to work!

One for the Books

by Phillip Saffel

October 11th, 2023

Three years ago I was fortunate to have a phone conversation with Sarah Henderson (See September 12th post). Little did I know, that conversation would spark an interest in the functionality of a school library. Mrs. Henderson’s passion for supporting both faculty and students through the library encouraged me to invest time in planning and conversing about what a library could/should be. During this conversation she talked about the Austin Public Library and how I should take the time to visit this space.  

Months before my phone conversation with Mrs. Henderson, I was allowed to be part of the planning and design committee for our district's new comprehensive high school. We were tasked with focusing and planning for a school that holds significance today but will still be relevant in 50+ years. With this in mind we knew that the library had to be the center-piece of our campus. Not only did this drive the design for the entire building, it also drove my hiring of my teaching staff. Staffing an entire building was a struggle, but I was intentional during the interview to challenge the applicant on ways to utilize the library across all areas of content. This set the stage for all of our current staff to know their administration's expectation on utilizing the library as an extension to their classroom. 

The library embodies what education stands for. To me that is a safe place that allows for individuality, exploration, solitude, collaboration, team-work, and of course literature. I knew we had to have an expert in the field looking over the designs and genuinely listening and implementing their thoughts and ideas. I was able to follow-up on the recommended Downtown Austin Public Library visit, to which I was blown away (that’s another post in itself).  Through this (and lots of drafts/revisions) the design team provided a two story design that would allow for a large group meeting area, 4 conference rooms, book shelves to house 10,000+ books, designated maker space tables, two waterfall craft tables (modeled after Austin Public Library), a library office, a large circulation desk, and a large storage area. 

Our second phase of construction extends the library another 1200 sqft and includes an EMBARK area. EMBARK is a district initiative that will provide local businesses office space on a rotational basis with the understanding that they will be meeting with job specific classes and discussing their industry. Lubbock-Cooper Liberty High school will be implementing this at the end of the month utilizing one of the conference rooms. What better place to open that door to the world than the library?

After the design phase, furniture became the next big item to tackle. The furniture needed to be sturdy but mobile, functional yet comfortable, all while being easy to clean and durable. We teamed up with a furniture supplier and worked hand-in-hand with a small team to create the space that we currently have that checks all the characteristics listed above. The students are testing the durability on a daily basis! 

We want our library (and campus) to be pro-students. We all walk different paths and our life experiences are what shape and mold us. The library exposes students to the world around them and can help guide individuals to rise to the challenges of today's society. 

Although we have built an amazing building, the people that we place and position for impact are truly what makes the Lubbock-Cooper Liberty Library special for staff and students. 

Building a Library Partnership: from Blueprints to First Day of School

by Sarah Henderson

September 12, 2023

The 2020 school year brought about lots of changes and challenges, but it was during this school year that a new partnership began for me.  Here in Lubbock-Cooper ISD, because of our exponential growth, the time had come to build a second high school.  

At the time I was the only high school librarian in our district.  I was approached by one of the principals in our district, Phillip Saffel, to meet with him via Zoom to discuss the construction plans of the library in what would soon be Lubbock-Cooper Liberty High School.  I was excited and surprised, because it’s not often that librarians are asked for their input on new library spaces.

As we discussed the blueprints and layout, Phillip asked a lot of questions and showed me preliminary sketches of this new library.  He was very receptive to my feedback and even added adjustments to the original plan.  For example, the original layout had books on the second floor, and the circulation desk on the first floor.  Phillip listened as I explained that the books and the circulation desk needed to be on the same floor, preferably on the first floor, as the primary reason students come to the library is to check out books.

Later the following summer, our superintendent Keith Bryant texted me and asked me to come in and meet with himself and the architects in charge of the design of the building.  They all listened intently as I discussed the library priorities of line of sight, plenty of shelving, and ample number of outlets.  I was so encouraged as they asked questions, made notes, and even talked about how to address some of those priorities with various changes to the plan.

All of these meetings and requests for my feedback happened well in advance of the decision for me to move into the role of librarian at Liberty.  Mr. Bryant, Phillip, and the architects I met with all made me feel like my experience and knowledge was valued.  

Late into the fall semester of 2022, Phillip approached me about putting the library collection together for Liberty.  We met over the next few months to discuss budget, opening day collection specifics, vendor bids, genrefying fiction, pulling certain sections out of Dewey, and items to consider purchasing beyond books.  It was in this process that I realized I was able to take part in putting together my perfect world library, and I wouldn’t be able to walk away from opening this library myself. In January of 2023, I made the decision to request to transfer to Liberty for the 2023-2024 school year.

Phillip and I worked together to finalize the details of moving into the library space over the summer and get it ready for students this fall.  I am extremely proud of the time, consideration, and research our district administration put into making the Liberty High School Library a showpiece for not only our district, but our region.  Phillip will be writing a follow-up blog for TxASL Talks in the coming weeks, so be sure to read his perspective on how building a new school informed his advocacy for the library.

Author Spotlight:

Back to the Future

by Lisa Fipps

August 29th, 2023

You're Marty McFly, and Doc Brown's terrified about what's about to happen. He tells you, you have to go back in time. Now! So you jump in a DeLorean, watch Doc Brown set the flux capacitor to 280-ish BC, and floor it in the mall parking lot until - KABOOM - you're slamming on the brakes to keep from crashing into the Royal Library of Alexandria in Egypt.

You don't quite understand what Doc Brown is so worked up about to send you back in time, but he said visiting the past and learning from it is the key to the future. 

You're shocked by what you learn.

Kings funded and supported the library, which was part of a research institute called the Mouseion, aka the Museum. Some of the world's greatest scholars, mathematicians, philosophers, and poets of all time made it home, even eating and sleeping there.

It was a pretty sweet place to hang out - i.e., if MTV had been around at the time, it would've been on Cribs for sure.

The library began before paper was even invented. So you see scrolls on the shelves. How many? Who knows. Some estimate 40,000-ish. Some say up to 900,000-ish. But let's just go with the modern word crapton and leave it at that. (Imagine weeding that collection.) 

Agents (the first collection management team members known to man) were sent around the world in search of books about all things by all authors.

And the library grew so much, they opened a branch in the Temple of Serapis.

There are a lot of unknowns about the Royal Library of Alexandria, but what is known is that it was home to the greatest collection of human knowledge. Let that sink in for a minute. 

The library had what librarians dream of:

● Funding and plenty of it, thanks to the coffers of kings.

● Facilities! The building was epic and part of the Mouseion, which included gardens, a zoo, and shrines to the nine Muses.

● The library sought out all books by all authors from around the world. How forward-thinking for 280-ish BC!

● They had an amazing library staff. 

● The library's reputation was so stellar, it's still talked about today - 2,300-ish years later.

And then ...

It went up in flames. Literally. Multiple times. 

It was a casualty of changes brought by people in power. People with differing opinions about what should be in a library. People who wanted to get rid of anything and everything they didn't like - especially materials created by people who were different from them, who thought differently, who believed differently.

I have been a library patron and librarian advocate since first grade, when I met Mrs. Pochon, the elementary school librarian to whom I paid homage in Starfish with the poem "Livesaving Librarians." I tear up just thinking about being in Egypt and watching all those ideas, discoveries, and stories go up in plumes of choking smoke. I can't help but wonder if there was knowledge, solutions, and answers on those shelves that we are still seeking today.

Knowing librarians, there's no way the Royal Library of Alexandria librarians didn't fight every new person in power. Because that's what librarians do: they fight.

With each fire, I know the librarians risked their lives trying to save some scrolls. Because librarians know that books are lifesavers.

If you're a school librarian, you can now easily see your library, your collection, your readers, and you as the Royal Library of Alexandria. 

It's sickening to think that as much as humans have evolved since 280-ish BC, librarians today still face the same problem: People with differing opinions about what should be in a library are getting rid of anything and everything they don't like. 

Groups have formed to teach others how to get books banned. People are pushing and pressuring legislators or voting in legislators to create laws to dictate collection policies. And, in some cases, librarians who try to challenge the bans face costly legal battles or prison. Prison!

I encourage you, though, to keep fighting. Support one another. Search for allies to come alongside you. Sound the alarm on social media and to the media as soon as you hear about changes being proposed - and then keep sounding the alarm with updates until all books, all libraries, and all librarians are safe. Speak, speak, and keep on speaking. Share your stories: stories of kids whose lives were changed or saved by books; stories of what it's like to be a librarian during this battle; stories of all that libraries have now, e.g., makers' spaces; stories of all that librarians do now, e.g., technology training; stories of what you need; and stories of how you stay encouraged. Stay connected with librarians in other states that don't have any or as many challenges; ask them to speak out on behalf of you, the books, and the kids. Stand with authors and publishers who are fighting, too.

I know it's not been easy and, quite frankly, it'll likely get worse before it gets better. But I have faith that libraries, librarians, and those who love them will win. 

• When you're weary, just remember that everything you're doing now is to ensure that libraries, librarians, and books exist now and in the future. 

Source of information:

https://www.mymcpl.org/blogs/historical-libraries-library-alexandria

Starting from Scratch: 

Opening a new school with a heart for the library

by Kate Hebert

August 17, 2023

Joining a new campus can be a daunting task, even more when it’s a brand new school. Trying to get to know teachers, students, staff & parents quickly in order to launch your library program on the right foot is essential. This year I moved from one side of my district to the other, and I wanted to be very intentional about how I started my year. The work fell into three categories: getting to know the community, getting to know the teachers & staff, and getting to know students. 

Getting to know the community:

As soon as I made the decision to move campuses, the work started. I wanted to get to know the community the school was in as quickly as possible. I pulled TAPR reports for the two closest schools in my district to get an approximation of the populations I would be working with at the new school. The biggest reason for this was to make sure that my opening day library collection reflected and represented the students. I worked with our book vender in pulling circulation reports from the two closest campuses to ensure that the most popular books were in our collection as well. Students find connection and comfort in books so I wanted to make sure their favorites were ready and waiting for them. Getting to know the community personally actually started in the summer before school began. I volunteered to be on the Student Support Team for my campus, which has members from the school staff, the district staff, and parents. I knew this would be a great opportunity for me to meet some coworkers as well as some of the families in our school. I also attended the first informational meeting for our campus PTO and met several families there. 

Getting to know the teachers & staff:

I met most of my coworkers over the summer at either the Student Support Team meeting, or at our (optional) meeting for establishing our campus Mission & Vision. Summer meetings are a good way to meet everyone on your campus in a relaxed environment and establish yourself as a resource for the students as well as the staff. 

Once our back to work PD days started I was able to meet with every teacher, first in a group setting, and then one on one to talk about library schedule, procedures, resources and collaboration. That one on one time is key to letting teachers know that you are a resource for them, and their students. Often teachers aren’t aware how much their librarian can collaborate and/or provide resources for them. 

Another key component to successfully getting to know the school community was meeting with administrators and sharing my vision for the library program with them. I’m lucky to have a supportive administrative team that is willing to let the library be an open door location for students before school, and throughout the day, with classes coming weekly for lessons and check out, as well as open check out during the day.

Getting to know the students:

Cultivating relationships with students will be an ongoing process during the year, but to start the year off right I made sure to meet as many students as I could at our Meet the Teacher. I also make sure to be available in the morning to help students get to class. I also have after school car rider duty, which I have found is a great way to get to know students outside of the library. During the year I will have students come to the library weekly for lessons, host lunchtime book clubs, have 5th grade library ambassadors working in the library, and coach UIL teams. To build a personal connection, I strive to learn all the students' names, including correct pronunciations, by the end of September. 

Once I start seeing classes I work with each class to create a social contract on how we want the class’s time in the library to go and what expectations we have for each other. I also plan getting to know you activities so that I can share information about myself with them, as well as foster connections between classmates. 

Moving Forward:

Even though the year just began, I know that I’ve started the year with a strong plan. I have plans in place to continue learning about my new community and to build relationships that will be a big part of the culture of the school. I am the PTO staff liaison so that I can contribute to that group, as well as be involved in the many activities they have planned. We are going to have a community wide “One School, One Book” program this year to build into the fabric of the school the importance of reading and the connections that come with it. I am also going to have a parent and student advisory board to make sure that I am meeting the needs of my students and their families. 

IASL '23

By: Kim Krutka

July 27, 2023

Every reader knows how easy it is to get lost in a great book. Well, for the last 8 years I have found myself lost in an elementary library. I have had the honor of serving as librarian to curious elementary students and supportive staff. After eight years of cultivating, curating, and creating, I am now transitioning to a high school library in our district. This shift in my career presented an opportune time to reflect on what makes libraries special.

My trip this summer to attend the International Association of School Librarians (IASL) Conference reawakened my library imagination. The conference is put on by IASL, which comprises over 1,600 members in 52 countries. I have attended this conference online and in South Carolina in years past and have always learned so much from its unique combination of research presentations by library science scholars and practical presentations by current school librarians. This year it was in Italy and I was lucky enough to attend! Because crossing the Atlantic is quite a trek, my husband and I decided to make it into a summer excursion through Portugal, Spain, and Italy, ending with the conference in Rome. 

As I started my trip in Portugal, there were some libraries and bookstores I wanted to visit. I always search for these special places when I travel because I find myself inspired by them and the books I find within. There is a bookstore, Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugal that is known to some as the “most beautiful bookstore in the world” and lines of ticket-holders wait to enter everyday. The entrance itself looks magical! As I walked through the front door, an ornate golden staircase welcomed me alongside bookshelves that lined every wall, floor to ceiling. As I climbed the split staircase to the second floor, a stained glass ceiling shined light onto even more books and works of art painted on the walls. I found books to buy of course, but was also moved by the sheer joy that appeared on peoples’ faces as they entered. I felt excitement for what books, and the spaces that hold them, mean to people. 

The opening session for this international conference included a flag ceremony where the 30 or so countries represented at this year’s conference presented their flag to be added to a display of the conference attendees. It was an impactful way to visualize the larger context of our profession and appreciate the different ways school libraries can exist in meaningful ways. In attending sessions, I learned about research related to the reading habits of high school students, the role of motivation in reading, the impact of relationships on teacher and librarian collaboration, how librarians can play a role in 1:1 initiatives, and AI in education. The information at the conference was a fitting end to my trip that started with experiences that helped me feel the importance of libraries. It provided new information and reminders about key elements that make what librarians do so valuable. This included:  

• Reading choice is crucial for our readers. 

• Students that believe they are  “good” readers can be more motivated to read.

• Relationships are central to the purpose and impact of a school library. 

• The library space matters. Having an accessible, safe, cozy space to read makes a difference for students. 

• A district’s library leadership team, made up of campus librarians, can have a major impact on what libraries do.

• Technology will continue to change and librarians will continue to effectively adapt to those changes while critically evaluating their use.

As I start my job in a new library, this trip has reminded me of the special place libraries hold in communities around the world. I am inspired by the dedication and thoughtfulness that goes into creating books, cultivating reading, caring for library spaces, and growing the profession. The library I am returning to do my work belongs to a larger community of libraries and readers. I am reminded that I need to continually learn and grow so my students will get lost in a great book, and maybe a great library, too.

TxASL 2023-2024 Welcome From Our New Chair

by Brooke King

June 13, 2023

Hello, fellow school librarians!

Now that the whirlwind of the 2022-2023 school year is complete, and we all collectively take a deep breath as we recover this summer, I want to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Brooke King, and I am your TASL Chair for 2023-2024. I am a middle school librarian in Humble, with 22 years of experience in education, 15 of those years in school libraries. I have been involved in TLA for more than a decade starting out on the Texas Bluebonnet Award Program Committee. From there, I moved into TASL Legislative & Advocacy and TxASL Talks. I have formed some of the best relationships through TASL. These librarians are my lifeline. I am also passionate about advocacy for school librarians and I hope to show that this next year. 

I know we are all feeling anxious at the moment as the Texas Legislative Session ended. As you know, there were many bills introduced this session focusing on school libraries. Some of those would have impacted our collection development policies, while some could have criminalized school librarians. With our combined advocacy, many of the bills never made it out of committee, amendments were added to others and only one bill was passed: HB900. It has now been signed by the governor. We are still in the process of collecting information on the impact of this bill. For the most part, it seems that we will be able to begin our 2023-2024 school year as we have in the past. The dates for mandates in the bill are all in 2024. TASL will keep everyone posted about what to expect and help librarians work through these new expectations. I also would like to give a personal shout out to Lucy Podmore, our past-chair, for her bravery in testifying in front of the education committees of both chambers. 

TASL is here to support the school librarian profession. We can only do this when we have school librarians to support. My dream is to see a certified school librarian on every campus in Texas. I know that is a goal that will take much longer than a year to complete. But there are small steps that can be started. Several states have been successful in making this happen. We need to partner with them and collaborate on ideas on how to make this work in Texas. Another item that I think is equally important is adding more information about the impact of school libraries that are run by a certified by a school librarian in administrator preparation programs. We know what we do on our campus and the impact it has on student success, but do others?

The work of TASL cannot happen without some amazing volunteers. We have 112 librarians serving on a TASL committee this year! And I’m excited that we have representation from all over the state. I want to thank these librarians for volunteering their time, energy, and passion to making TASL the best organization it can be. There will still be other volunteer opportunities, so watch TLA Engage for communications. 

Please take some time to rest and recover this summer. Read some amazing new books. But then get ready to bring your advocacy for our profession and future. I look forward to working with each of you and serving TASL as Chair. 

-Brooke-