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MSLA President Jen Varney is the Librarian at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr School in Cambridge, MA. Hello and welcome to a brand new school year! My name is Jen Varney and I am the new MSLA President. I’m looking forward to serving you and making sure that MSLA is all that it can be. As a new school librarian 15(!) years ago, MSLA was a lifeline for me, connecting me to other people that had my job and could answer my questions. It was nice to know that I wasn’t alone.
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Liza Halley is the Library Teacher at Plympton Elementary School in Waltham, MA
Many schools turned the lens on social emotional learning (SEL) as the stress of COVID impacted students’ lives. As a librarian, you can serve as an asset to teachers within these SEL initiatives. I urge you to keep in mind graphic novels for your own lessons and as you recommend tools to teachers, social workers, and support staff in your schools.
Francesca Mellin is the Head Librarian at The Pike School in Andover Wordless picture books are the ultimate example of “show, don’t tell.” Artists using this format have fewer constraints (no blocks of text to plan around) but also the greater responsibility of creating characters and advancing plot solely through visual means.
Deeth Ellis is the Head Librarian at Boston Latin School in Boston, MA, and a Doctoral Student, School of Library Science, Simmons University.
Introduction
As a doctoral student at Simmons University, my teachers and advisors stress the importance of choosing courses and topics for assignments that will eventually guide you toward a dissertation topic. One such assignment last year was a conceptual framework, or a visual representation of an information phenomenon underpinned by theory. Sarah Murphy is the librarian at Kennedy Middle School in Natick. In this new column, we're thrilled to feature a librarian new to the profession. We hope you enjoy this chance to meet someone at the start of their school library career!
1. What's your name, title and school? Sarah Murphy, librarian at Kennedy Middle School in Natick. 2. How did you come to librarianship? After spending time as a second grade classroom teacher and a middle school reading specialist, I realized my true passion was literacy and wanted to be able to share that with a whole school community and not just small groups of students. 3. How would you explain the importance of your role to a nonlibrarian? Librarians do so much more than check out books. They have the power to reach all students, whether through the lens of books, providing a safe and inclusive space, and/or helping students tackle the task of making sense of the world around them. Libraries have the potential to be the heart of a school community and I find that both thrilling and a little daunting! 4. What are you working on right now? I am working on learning this new job, developing curriculum, and getting to know students and staff at my new school. 5. What is going well? I truly feel like I have landed in the exact right place for me. I am enjoying this work so much already and I have so many ideas for what I hope I can bring to the table. It has been a far easier transition than I anticipated. 6. What is the most challenging thing so far? The newness of it all has been challenging. I am working on learning new systems, new people, and a new school system, as well as trying to be seen as a resource to other teachers, develop curriculum, and gain a rapport with as many students as I can. It is all very exciting but it has been a lot! 7. What's the most unexpected thing about your new job? I think the most unexpected thing for me has been just how happy I am in this role. I have cried happy tears more than once since I started and I don't think I knew how fulfilling a job could be. It also surprises me how fast the work day flies by. I am working on coming to terms with the fact that my to-do list may never be finished. 8. What are you reading or watching? I'm reading The Pants Project by Cat Clarke. I'm listening to November 9 by Colleen Hoover and I am watching the LuLaRoe Documentary on Amazon. 9. What do you hope the MA School Library Association can do for you? I am hoping the MSLA can help me stay current, connected, and inspired in this new role. Colleen Simpson is the Library Media Specialist at Lester J. Gates Middle School in Scituate. After a year and half we are as close to normal as we have been since that fateful day in March 2020 when schools shutdown. Our district spent three quarters of last year hybrid before students all returned in person mid-April. It was great to have everyone back at the time, students were excited to see friends, and school is just easier in person. This year many of the parameters have been lifted and, with exception of masks for everyone and a lunchroom with desks instead of tables, things look about where they should be. While our schools across the state may look different, I would imagine many of us are having similar experiences.
MSLA President Laura Luker is the Library Teacher at Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School in Hadley, MA. It’s been a wild ride, hasn’t it? As this school year winds its way to a close, and as I write my final Forum article as President, I find myself looking back over the two years of my MSLA presidency with a tinge of disbelief, a ton of gratitude, and a good dose of humility. (And also a sense of humor - which has come in handy in countless situations!)
Liza Halley is the Library Teacher at Plympton Elementary School in Waltham, MA.
In March, I was sitting on the front porch of a friend’s house, about ready to begin the Passover seder. We had a stack of all different kinds of Haggadot - books we use for readings, prayers, and images to go along with the Seder - when a fellow adult seder attendee grabbed Jordan Gorfinkel and Erez Zadok’s beautiful Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel saying, “I’ll take this one. I never learned to read anyway.”
Little did my new friend know, he was sitting next to a librarian who has made it her special mission to disabuse teachers, parents, administration, and students of this very notion: sequential stories - graphic novels, comics, graphic nonfiction - are really books that you read, and your brain is doing a ton of work while you read them. They are for all readers. Margaret Kane Schoen is a Library Teacher at Newton South High School. One of the long-standing jokes in my house is that Mom knows everything - or if I don’t, I can find out the answer to everything faster than anyone else. Of course! That’s one of the perks of being a librarian - we’re good at searching for information, whether it’s in a database, or just out there on the web. And whether you have been using search engines since the days of Alta Vista, or have grown up in the age of Google we can all use more tips and tricks to become better searchers - and preserve that librarian mystique of “best Internet searchers”. Felicia Quesada Montville is the Library Teacher at Charles E. Brown Middle School in Newton, MA. While we are still in the midst of what feels like a never-ending year, September will be here before we know it. The optimist in me sees a blur of back-to-back library orientations, a flurry of check outs as students select their first independent reading books of the year, and sessions training student library helpers. Banned Books Week (September 26th through October 2nd this year) so often sneaks up on me, but at least ALA’s amazing graphics make it easy to put up an engaging and informative display.
Valerie Diggs is a former President of MSLA and currently works as a Senior Visiting Instructor at Salem State University, where she also serves as the Graduate Program Coordinator of the MEd Library Media Studies program. Our district (K-8) is kind of a mess with some of the elementary librarians completely doing their own thing so students arrive at the middle school with really varying knowledge. (I think each librarian needs to respond to the individual needs of their own building, but there are some basics every student should have as part of the library curriculum) We have no library director and per usual, no one in the district administration really knows what is happening in the libraries. Some of us think it would make sense to have the middle school librarian also take on the additional role (with increased pay of some sort) of curriculum director. How do you suggest we best present this so administration can see the benefit? This is a great question and an all-to-familiar scenario. Without anyone to lead and coordinate the library program at the elementary level, it is very obvious that students will arrive at the middle school with a wide variety of knowledge. This is, of course, not what happens in the other academic disciplines, and this is one of the arguments you need to make.
MSLA President Laura Luker is the Library Teacher at Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School in Hadley, MA. As I write this, I am looking out my window onto a snowy and frigid landscape, longing for warmer weather and the ability to be outside more often. When the pandemic began last spring, I remember thinking to myself “thank goodness we’re not dealing with this in the depths of winter!” At that point, no one would have ever guessed how long it would last and how deeply we’d be affected. However, now that we are in fact dealing with it in the depths of winter I find myself admiring the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity. I think it’s helpful to sit back and take stock of two things: first, that we have persevered so well and second, that we have come so far already.
Francesca Mellin is the Head Librarian at The Pike School in Andover.
If flexibility is the order of the day, then humor is the “secret sauce” for success in these times. In my reading life, I find myself turning to lighthearted fare to counter all that is weighty elsewhere; hence, the focus on humorous picture books for this column.
Margaret Kane Schoen is a Library Teacher at Newton South High School and a winner of a 2020 Super Librarian Award. When our library team learned that our high school would be starting the year fully remote, one of our first concerns was how we would introduce ourselves and our services to our incoming ninth graders. Normally we do a full class orientation, where new students get a chance to meet us, explore our space, and get familiar with all we have to offer. Limiting that to a website and a Zoom made that difficult! The whole situation was making us feel trapped, so we thought, why not lean in, and design a digital escape room activity to welcome the new students?
Dr. Georgina Trebbe is the Information Specialist/Librarian at the Minnechaug Regional High School.
Whether engaged in full or hybrid online teaching and learning, Massachusetts school districts pivoted to emergency online learning during COVID-19. Emergency online teaching and learning required all-hands-on-deck. The emergency nature of online teaching and learning lead to the challenging of traditional educational practices and perceptions as educators needed to determine what works. During COVID-19 school library teachers were especially challenged with threatened position cuts and reassignments (Witteveen, 2020). Through these challenges, school library teachers creatively determined safe methods for providing traditional services, utilized their technology expertise for instructing K-12 educators and students how to use and apply new online tools (AASL, 2020; Witteveen, 2020).
Valerie Diggs is a former President of MSLA and currently works as a Senior Visiting Instructor at Salem State University, where she also serves as the Graduate Program Coordinator of the MEd Library Media Studies program.
I work in a public high school. I was surprised when I stumbled upon the Bible in the religious section of the stacks. I wondered if other schools have the Bible in their collection.
Should the Bible sit on the shelves of a school library? Whether you are brand new to a school library and just trying to figure out what is on the shelves, or a seasoned professional, questions concerning religious materials on the shelves of a school library are not uncommon. As professionals, we need to hit the pause button here and ask why. What is it about religious materials on the shelves that elicits such concern?
MSLA President Laura Luker is the Library Teacher at Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School in Hadley, MA. Dear colleagues,
When last I wrote to you for the Forum, none of us could have predicted where we’d be today. That was May, and we were winding down a school year. We were finishing up something the likes of which we had never seen before and holding onto that ever-present end of year thought - next year will be better. We had dreams that the pandemic would be winding down and that things would be calmer and saner soon. Francesca Mellin is the Head Librarian at The Pike School in Andover In these turbulent times, I find myself looking for silver linings and “small wins” wherever I can. I am encouraged by the increasing number of Native folks serving in Congress and the recent commitment by a professional football team to change an offensive team name. The number of books published by Native creators is on the rise, and recognition of problematic narratives is generating much-needed conversation. Just in time for Indigenous Peoples’ Day on October 12, here is a selection of recent picture books that reflect a wide array of Native perspectives, identities, and activism.
Georgina Trebbe is the Information Specialist/Librarian at the Minnechaug Regional High School.
The buzz word surrounding Massachusetts educators is “Pivot.” Expressed originally by Commissioner Riley, the term “pivot” has been used to describe the changes Massachusetts educators have done as they shifted to remote learning in March, returned to either full-online or hybrid learning, and plan for the possibility of future changes (Riley, 2020). One thing is for certain, benefits from online teaching and learning will continue to be incorporated into the education practices long after Covid-19 has been mitigated and schools return to face-to-face teaching and learning. Online teaching and learning have allowed educators to take a serious look at their role in this new online ecosystem. Similarly, school library teachers will have to consider necessary changes to their profession that will meet the needs of a new emerging education outlook that engages online even when face-to-face learning is once again the method.
Samantha Silag is the Library Teacher at Manchester Memorial and Essex Elementary Schools in the Manchester Essex Regional School District. So we are all living through this new reality – regardless of whether you are teaching live, remote, hybrid, etc. It’s just a weird and kind of sad time in the world and certainly in the world of education. Typically, an elementary schoolhouse is the epicenter of JOY, LAUGHTER, LOVE – and yes, even HUGS! At the elementary level we have much, much less of the middle school students’ woes of puberty, understanding who they are, getting used to more independence and so on. And the elementary schoolhouse is definitely free of the stress of AP courses, college applications, competitive sports and “what do I want to do with my life” pressures of high school. So yes, this new reality has presented the elementary community – students, parents, and definitely teachers – a very different level of stress with very different challenges, concerns and pivots. (Umm…anyone taught K-2 how to use an iPad, submit an assignment on Seesaw, or press MUTE?!)
But I want to be an optimistic voice – don’t hate me if you’re sick of the “oh, it could be worse” or “I feel so blessed” contingent because well, it helps me get through the day to find silver linings each day. And, to be clear, many of my days have been hard, dark, frustrating, and un-fun and there have been some days when I have seriously contemplated quitting my job! Haven’t you?! So here are the top 10 things this crazy COVID period has taught me as a K-5 Library Teacher and Team Leader: MSLA President Laura Luker is the Library Teacher at Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School in Hadley, MA. Dear MSLA Members,
I don’t believe I’m overstating things when I say that we are now working through one of the toughest challenges our profession has faced. All educators are being asked to innovate at breakneck pace, exhibit grace and flexibility on a daily basis, and to keep education moving along for our students. School librarians specifically are faced with the task of figuring out how we fit into the bigger distance learning picture, knowing we need to continue to educate the students and adults we consider our patrons despite all the challenges thrown our way. I am proud that we are all doing our best to keep information flowing to those we serve. I’ve seen many of you agonize over how best to get reading material (physical or virtual) into the hands of your students. How to distribute devices to those who might not otherwise have access. How to make sure that students can connect and that teachers have the skills they need. And you’ve done all of this while balancing the needs of your own families, your own communities, and yourselves. Felicia Quesada Montville is the Library Teacher at Charles E. Brown Middle School in Newton, MA, and the winner of a 2020 MSLA Web Seal of Excellence. When I sat down to write my first Forum article back in January, I brainstormed a list of topics, settling on two for my winter and spring articles. Little did I know that my first article’s topic, using social media to connect with students, would suddenly become even more relevant as we moved to connecting with students solely online. Nor did I realize that my second idea would need to go right out the window — what help is an article about genrefying a collection when no one can access their libraries? Back to the drawing board it was.
And while there’s no shortage of pieces out there highlighting the amazing things people are doing from home, life in quarantine is simply all I could wrap my head around. What does middle school librarianship look like from home? Much of our time connecting with students in school is during unstructured extension blocks — the library is the heart of the school, a gathering place in addition to a classroom. How do we recreate that safe space online? And while our libraries are about so much more than the books and the lessons, there are also the books and the lessons! How do we ensure that our students keep reading and learning important information literacy skills? Francesca Mellin is the Head Librarian at The Pike School in Andover. If you’re like me, you may find yourself glued to your laptop on a certain Monday morning in January, cheering gleefully (while others in the library wonder what in the world you’re watching)! The Youth Media Awards, announced at ALA’s annual Midwinter meeting, are undoubtedly a major event for book lovers. The Newbery, Caldecott, and Coretta Scott King Awards have traditionally been at the forefront of media coverage... and can sometimes outshine the other awards. ALA itself has been gradually giving increased recognition to awards given by its affiliates. In the past two years, announcements of literature awards given by the American Indian Library Association, Asian Pacific American Library Association, and the Association of Jewish Libraries have been made at the Youth Media Award breakfast, welcome news indeed for those of us promoting multicultural and inclusive literature in our libraries.
The picture book honorees for 2020 represent a wide array of experiences and themes, expressed through stunning art coupled with engaging text. Let’s take a closer look at some of my favorites. Margaret Kane Schoen is a Library Teacher at Newton South High School and a winner of a 2020 Super Librarian Award. What can you do when you can’t get into your library? It might seem like this is a time when projects can’t get done, after all, we don’t have access to anything in our libraries - no books, no displays, no maker spaces. But any quiet time you have right now can be an excellent opportunity to tend to digital projects that require mostly your attention and a computer.
You won’t necessarily be able to finish all of these - some are starters for projects that you can work on once you’re back. But getting all the online drudgery out of the way now means you’ll be able to focus on the fun part - the students and the books! - once you're back. (And of course - some of us have no quiet time. Everyone’s home work space is different right now, so don’t feel guilty if you can’t get to these.) Ms. Samantha Silag is the Library Teacher at Manchester Memorial Elementary School. Remember the good old days…back in February? At that time, I wrote an article for the Winter Forum about how important it is for parents to know us Library Teachers by name. At the time, I had no idea just how true, almost prophetic even, my message in that piece would prove to be just a few weeks later when MA schools closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Now, as we are in the thick of remote teaching/distance learning (call it what you will), I find that the ability to reach out to K-5 parents and make it stick to their overloaded radar is critical to keep the “school library” present and participatory during these overwhelming times. And, to keep our school community connected and comforted by the familiar.
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