Why I Became a School Librarian and Why I'll Always Love This Work....Part 1 of the New Follett Content Blog Series

 

I'm excited to kick off a new blog series with Follett Content, sharing a school librarian's perspective on the many ways libraries make a difference in our schools and communities.

As a district teacher librarian, I've seen how the library connects people, ideas, books, creativity, and learning in so many meaningful ways. But the library looks a little different depending on who you are. Students come to discover their next favorite book, teachers find a partner in learning, families look for ways to encourage reading at home, and district leaders help shape the resources and opportunities available to their school communities.

Throughout this series, I'll share my experiences, ideas, and a few things I've learned along the way as we explore the school library through five perspectives: the librarian, students, teachers, families, and district leaders. We'll look at what makes this work so rewarding, the challenges we navigate, and the many opportunities we have to inspire reading, spark creativity, and support learning together.

For Part 1, I'm starting at the beginning and sharing a little about why I became a school librarian and why I'll always love this work.

I think I may have been practicing to be a teacher librarian long before I even knew it! When my sister Heather and I were little, we used to play school, where we were both teachers and librarians. We'd set up our books, create our own little library, check books in and out, and take turns being the librarian or teacher. We even had a little stamp and cards for our books, just like a real library. It was just the best!

What makes me smile even more about that story is that Heather is a teacher librarian now, too. I don't think either of us could have imagined then that something we were simply pretending to do would become such a special part of who we are.

My hope is that these conversations offer fresh ideas, practical takeaways, and a reminder of just how much is possible when we work together to support our students and school communities.

I'm so glad you're here, and I hope you'll follow along, friends!

You can read Part 1 of the series, Why I Became a School Librarian and Why I'll Always Love This Work, here at Follett Content.

Creating Our Makerspace Lending Library!

We opened our Makerspace Library in our new Makerspace last week.  

It is in the middle of the bookshelves on one side of our Makerspace. 

In this space within our Makerspace, students can find lots of materials to create, build, play, and so much more. 

For our new Makerspace Lending Library, I used a wonderful set of Makerspace and STEM focused books I have collected from my friends at Capstone, Crayola, and a few other publishers. 

I have several of these, or books from these series, cataloged and circulating in our library. With multiple copies, and other books from the same series or around the same topic, I thought it would be perfect to bring them together here in our new Makerspace Library. 

I love the Makerspace books that Capstone creates as they cover so many topics like origami, cardboard, graphic novel crafts, fashion design, doodles, and so much more.  You can find these books and others at capstonepub.com. 

For this special part of our library, we decided not to officially catalog the books. We just want this to be a place students and teachers can come to borrow books to use in the Makerspace. 

I created a sticker for the front of the books to identify them easily as part of the Makerspace Library. The sticker also tells students how to use these books in the Makerspace. 

You will find the This is a Makerspace Book sticker template from Canva here. This fits a 2 1/2 inch Avery sticker label. 

I also made a sign similar to the stickers, but giving our students and teachers a little bit more guidance on how to use these books in the Makerspace. 

You will find the Our Makerspace Library sign here in Canva. This one is for a 5 x 7 acrylic frame.

As I find more books our students would love to use in the Makerspace and STEM Lab, I will add them to our Makerspace Library too. 

FETC 2027 Keynote Announced.....Power Players, The Next Generation Is Already In The Game!

 

There is a lot of talk about AI in education right now. And while no one has all the answers, 86 percent of students are already using it. That gap between where students are and where our systems are is real — and it is exactly what I am heading to FETC 2027 to dig into.

Student voice. AI access. Technology used with intention. Pathways to career and college. These are not abstract ideas. They are the conversations happening in my building every day.

You can read all about the speakers here in the special press release. 

If they are on your mind too, join me in Orlando January 26-29. 

You can register here today, friends. Use my code SMILLER10 for 10% off.