Presentations, Writing, & More

Projects

• Rainbow Connection (SCCCL Team) https://sccclrc.usccreate.org/ 

• DaybyDaySC Family Literacy Calendar content and updates https://www.daybydaysc.org/ (2015 - 2022)

• Project READY S.C. (SCCCL Team)

• Cocky's Reading Express (Coordinator 2018 - 2023)

• Bilingualism Matters Center Lending Library (2021 - 2022)

• StoryWalk at Irmo Community Garden

• Get Ready, Stay Ready Toolkit 

• READCON

Presentations

• April 2026 - AERA, Los Angeles

• March 2026 - Because Chaos Is Not a Management Plan, SCASL Concurrent Session with Christy James

• March 2026 - Law for Librarians, SCASL Concurrent Session with Tenley Middleton

• March 2026 - Invited to speak, Defense of Democracy meeting

• January 2026 - AASL Standards 2nd Edition for Kershaw County School Libraries, Kershaw County School District with Dr. Jenna Spiering

• October 2025 - Partnering for Strong School Libraries, Lexington 1 Principals and School Librarians with Dr. Jenna Speiring

• October 2025 - AASL National Conference, READCON

• September 2025 - Guest Speaker in Dr. Nicole Cooke's ISCI 801 course

• August 2025 - Integrating Joy and Play into Every Day - Richland 1 School Librarians

• May 2025 - Fostering a Classroom of Belonging - State Museum

• May 2025 - Book Award Committee Kick-off Presentation 

• December 2024 - Interrogating and Resisting the Power of Censorship Panel - LRA

• November 2024 READCON Poster Session - NCTE

• November 2024 Generative AI: What Library Workers Need to Know - Certificate Program Presentation with Dr. Vanessa Kitzie

• October 2024 READCON - ALISE

• June 2024 READCON - ALA, with Dr. April Dawkins and Dr. Lucy Santos Green

• May 2024 Presentation to SC State Museum

• March 2024 Generative AI: What School Librarians Need to Know - PreConference Session, SCASL with Dr. Jenna Spiering and Dr. Vanessa Kitzie

• February 2024 Generative AI: What Librarians Need to Know - Webinar for SC State Library with Dr. Jenna Spiering and Dr. Vanessa Kitzie

• June 2023 - LOC Resources - ALA, with Dr. Liz Hartnett

• June 2023 - Growing our Own, with Christy James  and Dr. Lucy Santos Green - ALA

• June 2023 - Get Ready, Stay Ready Panel - ALA, with Dr. April Dawkins and Dr. Lucy Green

• June 2023 - Get Ready, Stay Ready: Community Action Toolkit with Dr. April Dawkins - Library 2.0 

• June 2023 - Examining LGBTQ+ Lead Characters in Picture Books Read During Drag Storytimes - ChLA Annual Conference

• June 2023 - Library Policies for Administrators with Dr. Jenna Spiering

• May 2023 - Presentation to State Museum 

• May 2023 - Get Ready, Stay Ready Community Action Toolkit - SCLA Webinar

• March 2023 - Complex Collaboration with Dr. Jenna Spiering - Newberry School District School Librarians

• November 2022 - West Metro Rotary Club - SCCCL/CRE Presentation 

• October 2022 - SCASL/iSchool/SCDE Regional Workshops (2 total)

• October 2022 - Olde English Consortium School Librarian Conference - Intellectual Freedom & Diverse Books in Elementary Libraries & Classrooms

• Summer 2022 - ALA and IASL - STEAM and LOC Resources

• April 2022 Panel - Intellectual Freedom

• February 2022 LISSA, Diversity in Children's Literature

• October 2021 South Carolina Library Association Bilingualism Matters Poster Session with Kyungjin Hwang

• October 2021 Polo Road Elementary Bilingualism Matters presentation for Family Literacy Night with Kyungjin Hwang

• April 2021 "Civic Engagement: Education and Literacy" UofSC Capstone Scholors Student Group Presentation

• October 2020 "Youth & Social Technology" South Carolina Department of Mental Health - Virtual 

• May 2020 "Selecting Reading Materials for All Ages" SCASL Book Award Committees Meeting - Virtual 

• April 2020 "Ideas for keeping your patrons engaged with virtual storytime, booktalks, and more!" Librarian.Support - Virtual 

• 2020 "Resources for Family Literacy" Bilingualism Matters Conference *cancelled due to COVID-19

• 2020 "Check out SCCCL and CRE!" SCASL Annual Conference concurrent session

• 2020 "Resources for Struggling Readers" SCASL Regional Workshops

• 2019 "Building Inclusive Collections" Charleston County School District Professional Development Workshop

• 2019 "Building Inclusive Collections" Richland 1 Professional Development Workshop

• 2019 “You Need Diverse Books! Promoting Diversity in Children’s Literature in your School Library – Grades K – 5” SCASL Regional Workshop

• 2019 “Community Outreach: How to Build Partnerships, Increase Reading Engagement and HAVE FUN!” SCASL Conference

• 2019 “Selecting Reading Materials for All Ages” SCASL Book Award Committee

• Guest, Elementary Librarian Podcast. “Collaborating with Other Librarians with Valerie Byrd Fort and Betsy Long.” 

• 2018 “Reignite Passion for Reading.” SCASL Conference

• 2017 “Teamwork makes the DREAM work.” Presentation for Lexington 1 Professional Development

• 2015 “Simple MakerSpaces.” Presentation to Lexington 1 School Librarians

• 2012 “ReimagineED.” Presentation to Lexington 1 School Librarians and Technology Integration Specialists

• 2007 MySpace Uncovered Panelist Richland Library

• 2007 “Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, Oh My!” ETV Professional Development Conference

• 2006 “Why Blog? Why Podcast? Why Not?!” SCASL Conference

Writing

• Barriage, S., Lawler, R., Byrd Fort, V., Betler, S., & Thorne, J. (2026). Intersectionality and metronormativity in picture books read during drag storytimes. International Journal of LGBTQ+ Youth Studies, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/29968992.2026.2647847

• Barriage, S., Betler, S., Lawler, R., Byrd Fort, V., Myers, J., Kitzie, V., & Oltmann, S. M. (2024). A content analysis of picture books read during drag storytimes in public libraries. Public Library Quarterly. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2024.2358609

• Byrd Fort, V. (2021, March). Supporting dyslexic readers in the school library. School Library Connection. https://schoollibraryconnection.com/content/article/2252101

• Programming with Diversity in Mind: Conducting a Diversity Audit School Library Connection, August/September 2019

• Writer, Library Goddess  www.valeriebyrdfort.com - Author of blog posts pertaining mostly to literacy.

• Writer, Columbia SC Moms Blog (http://columbiasc.citymomsblog.com/) - Author of posts mostly pertaining to literacy (directed to parents) for children of all ages.

Articles include:

• • May 2018 and 2019 - “Ultimate Guide to Summer Reading Programs”

  • April 2018 - “10 Things You May Not Know About Your School Library”

  • November 2017 – “Reading With Your 6 – 9 Year Old”

  • August 2017 – “Reading With Your 3 – 6 Year Old”

  • June 2017 – “Reading With Your 3 and Under Child”

• Book Reviewer, School Library Connection

• Writer, School Library Messenger (SCASL publication) - Author of articles pertaining to the interests of school library media specialists in the state of South Carolina.

• Literacy Links, January 2005 “Working with Your Literacy Coach, “Author

• “BeSS won't Go There: a research report on filtering Software,” Current Studies in Librarianship 7-19 (2001) Research report with Jessica Felker and Allison Duncan.

Honors and Awards

• 2026 I Love My Librarian Award

• 2025 - 2026 SCASL President's Award

• 2021 - 2022 SCASL Distinguished Service Award

• 2021 CIC Inclusive Excellence Award

• Recognized by Scholastic Books as one of ‘15 Librarians to Follow on Instagram’

• Teacher of the Year New Providence Elementary School 

• Teacher of the Year Dutch Fork Elementary School 

Committee Work

• 2025 - 2027 ALSC Notable Digital Children's Media Committee, Co-Chair *committee sunset in 2026

• 2023 - 2026 SCLA Secretary

• 2021 - 2029 IFLA School Libraries Section Committee Member; (2023 - 2025) Information Coordinator

• 2023 iSchool/ALA Alumni Accreditation Committee Co-Chair

• 2023 - 2025 ALSC School Age Programming Committee - Co-Chair

• 2023 School Library Search Committee, iSchool, USC - Chair

• 2023 Audit Committee, SCASL - Chair

• 2023 South Carolina Picture Book Award Committee Member

• 2022 Children's Literature Association Book Award Committee Member

• 2022 - 2023 SCASL Presidential Advisor

• 2022 IASL Conference Planning Committee

• 2021 SCASL Audit Committee

• 2022 - 2023 IFLA School Library Section Committee Member

• Freedom to Read Task Force

• Get Ready; Stay Reading: Community Tool Kit Task Force

• Teach My Kid to Read Board of Directors 2020 - 2022 

• BiLM Executive Board 2020 - Present

• 50th Anniversary Planning Task Force - Davis College/iSchool 

• 2021 - 2022 ALSC School Age Committee

• UofSC School of Information Science Social Impact Committee, Co-Chair 

• UofSC School of Information Science School Library Committee

• 2021 / 2022 Sara Jaffarian School Library Program Award for Exemplary Humanities Programming Committee

• 2022 / 2023 ALSC Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Committee

• 2017 American Library Association May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture Committee

Service 

• Independent Study Supervisor - Summer 2023 Graphic Novels

• Senior Thesis Director -  Fall / Spring 2022 - 2023

• Independent Study Supervisor - Summer 2022 Graphic Novels

• Independent Study Supervisor - Summer 2020 Picture Books in Public Library Storytime

• Girl Scout Troop Co-Leader

• Safe Zone Facilitator