Today's Member of the Month is Roxanne Bell. Roxanne works at Camas County Schools in Fairfield, Idaho. It's her first year as a school librarian!
We asked Roxanne 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 think my favorite thing about my job of being the school librarian would have to be the interaction I am able to have with all of the children in our small, rural Kindergarten through 12th grade public school. By investing my time, talent, and energy in the students that pass through our library, my greatest hope is that I can instill a love of reading within them. Encouraging and inspiring each and every student to excel in whatever they do in life.
Name one children's book that you couldn't live without in your library.
Only one? It would have to be: Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright. (The sequel is great too)
Tell us why you decided to join the Elementary Librarian Community. What's your favorite thing about it?
This curriculum, the additional resources, along with the Facebook group to glean from, all help me put together engaging lessons without a lot of stress, or more importantly, without a lot of guesswork as to what to cover. My favorite thing is that I can still work alongside all the wonderful teachers here at Camas County Schools reinforcing many of the same standards that the children are currently learning in their classrooms.
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?
One piece of advice that I would give, to a brand new school librarian, would be to get to know not only the students, but the teachers, administration, and the parents of your new school community.
The biggest challenge I am currently facing would have to be differentiating. I want to develop personalized instruction so that all children in the library can learn effectively. Like I mentioned earlier, this curriculum and additional resources are really helping me to accomplish this goal.