Knowledge Quest (ASSL)

The start of the school year brings a unique kind of overwhelm and exhaustion, doesn't it? Between setting up orientation lessons, putting up displays, updating policies, and welcoming students and staff, the sheer volume of decision-making exhausts me before school even officially begins.

Every school in the country should be equipped with a specially trained, built-in literacy partner. No matter what your literacy focus might be, there is an educator perfectly positioned to support the literacy needs of all learners. Some schools are incredibly lucky that a certified school librarian is employed at least part time in their school building, yet schools in many states are missing out on this vital resource. Or in some cases, their unique abilities are not utilized to their fullest.

I was fortunate to spend four days at River Bend Farm in Saco, Maine, at a teacher institute on watershed science and conservation. The program is run through The Ecology School, an organization that provides outdoor, place-based learning experiences for both students and teachers.

Sowing the Seeds Recently, a school library friend asked if I had submitted myself for an award from our state organization. I laughed - "Why would I put in for an award? I'm not doing anything special." They looked back at me, agog. And while the conversation quickly moved on to other topics, it did plant a seed of self-doubt - was I doing anything worth noting? Completely coincidentally, I shortly after received an email saying someone had nominated me for a national award.

"I feel like I've stretched myself and grown so much through this collaborative. Your guidance and suggestions have been a huge part of that." - Jennifer Long, School Library Media Coordinator, Rockingham County Schools, NC This post is a companion to "Unshhh-ing Advocacy: How Your Everyday Work Is Already Making the Case," published in Knowledge Quest, Vol. 54, No. 5. The graphics you saw in that article have a story - and it belongs to Jennifer Long.

I am lucky enough to have two large digital display screens in my library. I run a set of library information slides on them when I'm not teaching a class. This slide deck includes what our month's book themes are, library rules, and other information about the library. This is on pretty much all the time, so students wandering through get information about the library all day long. I will always choose to run slides fullscreen when I have the option.

The Last Library Hurrah Comics and Color. Graphic novels and gadgets. This year's sixth annual Free Comic Book Day in my high school library added some literary fun to the end-of-school-year chaos. Students from all grades stopped by to browse. Manga. Star Wars. Godzilla. Archie. Each teen was drawn to different titles. As I watched them flip through the silky pages, I felt the same satisfaction I get when I see a student pick up a book and start reading.

I would love to say that I am a lifelong learner, especially here on this site where learning is celebrated. But I can't say this because that would not be true. Contrary to what you might think, it's not because I quit learning when I left school, quite the opposite really. In school, I begrudgingly learned the bare minimum to get by and then promptly forgot much of that knowledge. Look. I'm not blaming the adults. I had some lovely teachers and librarians. I just wasn't interested.

I have been an author for most of my life, but this is the story of how I became an artist. Back in fourth grade, I drew a horse on a big poster for a class project. I lay on the floor of our living room, spread out my colored pencils, and worked for hours. Then I got a "C" (or maybe a "B"), and concluded that I could never be an artist. Instead, I focused on words, and enjoyed them so much that I studied as far as I could go (a Ph.D. in English).

Since 2010, the Global Read Aloud has impacted readers through the project's mission: "one book to connect the world." Each year, project founder Pernille Ripp selects a list of books for all interest levels, kindergarten through high school. Participation is free and simple: educators can choose a book to read aloud to students during a set six-week period in the fall. During that time, they are encouraged to make connections with another classroom reading the same book.