Today's Member of the Week is Molly Keohane. Molly works at Austin D. Baltz Elementary School in Wilmington, DE. She has been a school librarian for 17 years.
We asked Molly some questions about her experience as a school librarian and we would like to share them with you.
What's your favorite thing about your job as a school librarian?
I love everything about my job. The best part of working with children in this position is you get to see them grow from the needy kindergarten student to the confident excited 5th grader ready to spread their wings in middle school. I get to work with teachers and staff to support their educational ideas. My favorite challenge is to find ways to connect with parents and community to enrich the learning of all my patrons. These could be field trips, my website, English Language Learner class.
Name one children's book that you couldn't live without in your library.
Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? by Dr. Seuss
Tell us why you decided to join the Elementary Librarian Community. What's your favorite thing about it?
My favorite thing about the Elementary Librarian Community, is it makes planning a breeze. There are lots of units, mini-lessons, centers and more to choose from on a monthly basis. You take lessons we do regularly and keep them in an easy format and place to find what you need. All the lessons are matched to the common core standard(s) it covers. I wish I had this resource earlier in my career!
What's the biggest challenge you're currently facing when it comes to your school library?
If you could give one piece of advice to a brand new school librarian (or someone considering becoming a school librarian), what would it be?
Take a deep breath. Do not try to do everything all at once. Seek help from other Library Professionals who can brainstorm and guide you in your journey. Remember a library is a living entity and it grows and changes over time. If it doesn't then it will wither up and die away. It has been the most rewarding profession and I will miss it when I retire at the end of this school year.
Probably my biggest challenge is helping my patrons understand the power of a library. That we do more than check out books to students. We want to be an active part of students education with research and technology tools that give patrons choices.