Member of the Month Tina Schmidt

Today's Member of the Month is Tina Schmidt. Tina works at St. Ignatius of Antioch School in Yardley, PA. She has been a school librarian for 1 year.

We asked Tina 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 being able to touch the lives of every student in the school. I also love sharing the excitement of a great story with the kids - whether it be to laugh, cry or just say, "Wow that was a good story!"

Name one children's book that you couldn't live without in your library.

Wonder

Tell us why you decided to join the Elementary Librarian Community. What's your favorite thing about it?

This is my first year as a librarian having just transitioned to the library and technology teaching position for the whole school (PreK3 - 8th grade) after 14 years teaching grade 3. I was very worried about having to write so many new lesson plans, so I was thrilled when I found the Elementary Librarian. It was exactly what I needed to help me get started in my new role. Besides the lessons, I also loved the concept of using stations in the library which I hadn't thought about before.

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?

Read, read, read - to the kids and for yourself so you'll have recommendations in your arsenal. Also, try to book an author Skype for your students if you can. If you can't afford to buy one with school funds, there are authors who will do freebies via Skype in the Classroom and other avenues. Scholastic also offers author Skypes you can buy with Scholastic Dollars. Kids get SO motivated to read (and write) after they speak live with an author.