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A Love Letter to School Librarians

Molly Kane, Head of Teen Services and Emerging Technologies

Dear School Librarians,

I couldn’t do my job without you.

Okay, so MAYBE  I could still order books to put on the shelves without your suggestions. And MAYBE I could plan programs without your ideas. And MAYBE I could even oversee my volunteers without your help, but it sure would be a lot more difficult to do my job if I didn’t have you to collaborate with.

Let me give you some examples.

When I order books and need to make sure that I’m getting both popular books teens want AND the non-fiction books they need to complete their school work, who I ask? School librarians!

When I want to ensure that I have a huge audience for my author visits, who organizes the teachers, gets the kids excited, and sets up an exciting venue so that all I have to do is deliver the author from the train station? School librarians!

When I train my teen volunteers to do basic shelf-maintenance, they already know the basics of the Dewey Decimal System. How do they know that? Their elementary school librarian taught them!

And when I’m asked to speak at library conferences about innovative and meaningful tween and teen programs, who do I ask to be my co-presenter? My school library colleagues!

I can trace my own love of librarianship back to my middle school librarian, Mrs. Kathy Matthews, who let me shelve books during my study halls and was the first person to give me access to the world wide web. Being a school librarian is no easy job! There’s lesson planning and collection development and curriculum to think about and at the end of the day, there isn’t always much time for anything else! Because of this, I’m constantly grateful for the amazing relationship UDPL has with Upper Dublin School District and the private schools in our township. I’m surrounded by innovative educators with passions for books, literacy education, preparing our students for the future, and, of course, collaboration.

I’m especially thankful for Mrs. Mary Jane Lyons, the media specialist at UDHS. In the past year and a half, MJ and I have hosted author events, attended workshops, and even co-presented at the 2015 State Library Conference in State College. (MJ was there via Google Hangouts and was incredibly patient while I struggled with the inevitable technological difficulties!) We’ve also made sure to support each other’s programs. I was a guest reader at an African-American literature Read-In in February and on Wednesday of this week, the high school library, along with the UDHS phys ed department, is hosting a rowing program to support the One Book, One County initiative.

April is known as being the month to celebrate libraries – there’s National Library Week from April 10-16, National Library Workers Day on April 12, and National Bookmobile Day on April 13! But all of April, from the 1st through the 30th is School Library Month and I thought it was the perfect time to tell the school librarians in my life just how much I appreciate them!

School librarians, you’re awesome! And even though I may *technically* be able to do my job without you, I’m very, very glad that I don’t have to!

Love,

Molly

MJ collage

L-R: Mary Jane Lyons, MJ & a student co-presenting via Google Hangout at the state library conference, MJ and UDSD School Board president, Art Levinowitz, at the African-American Literature Read-In.

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