SLJ's People to Watch

An open-access policy at North Elementary School in Noblesville, IN, means that 350 students are free to roam the media center any time during the school day. With such library exposure, it's not surprising that some 2,000 books are checked out each week. What else does library media specialist Carl Harvey do to boost circulation? Students get to choose their own reading time and check out their own books. The entire school also uses the 4 Blocks Literacy Model of instruction, which incorporates four different approaches to teaching kids to become better readers, writers, and spellers.

Harvey knows the importance of staying connected with students and teachers. "I've spent a lot of time building bridges and making connections with teachers," he says. "Attending grade-level meetings, collaboration days, and informal conversations have led to collaborative research projects and activities." Harvey sends out a weekly e-mail to teachers with links to Web sites that adhere to the state's curriculum standards. And each month, he distributes a newsletter called Media Matters, which lists upcoming library programs and features columns on collaboration, interesting Web sites, technology tips, and suggestions on how to tie the library into the classroom curriculum.

The media center's Web site (www.nobl.k12.in.us/media/NorthMedia/index.htm) offers invaluable resources for students, teachers, and parents. Harvey also has collaborated on another Web site specifically devoted to helping other media specialists succeed at their jobs (www.nobl.k12.in.us/media/NorthMedia/lms/data/index.htm).

If Wonder Woman were a school librarian, she'd be Carolyn Kirio, the dynamic media specialist at Kapolei High School in Hawaii. Whether it's cooking competitions, environmental projects, or debates on alternative energy sources, Kirio has her hand in every school project, making sure that her 1,400 students become information-literate adults. Kirio keeps her research lessons interesting by drawing from the island's rich melting pot of cultures, as well as its unique geology and history. A recent cooking competition involving 410 ninth and tenth graders from Japanese, Hawaiian, and Spanish language classes focused on researching indigenous foods, from their history to various farming practices. Technology played a huge role in a 10th-grade lesson on genetics, in which 120 English and social studies students learned about the advancements in gene therapy and pet cloning.

"Teamwork is an ongoing process," Kirio says. "The library is the instigator of change and curriculum reform due to its involvement in collaboration, technology integration, lesson planning, and staff development." Kirio focuses on a joint approach to learning by gathering different classes—for instance, English, science, and social studies—in the media center at the same time. The library setting brings everyone together, blending all classes into one lesson on library research skills. Kirio has also collaborated with six other media specialists in the district to develop information-literacy benchmarks based on Information Power (ALA, 1998) and state standards.

Lindsay Patterson knows how to survive in these tough economic times. The children's and young adult librarian at the Watertown Free Public Library North Branch in Watertown, MA, has certainly felt the impact of budget cuts, but that hasn't stopped her from creating ways to keep kids excited about books and learning. "I really view this as an opportunity to develop relationships with local businesses and schools," she says. Patterson still holds traditional storytimes, but she also has frequent special programs and author visits, thanks to the partnerships she has cultivated. Her hard work has really paid off. Two local publishing houses, Barefoot Books and Charlesbridge, are more than happy to help Patterson promote literacy by donating books and offering some services for free.

One of Patterson's most rewarding purchases was a digital camera. With every new library card, each child takes home a photograph of himself, and the image is e-mailed to family members so they can share the experience of a first library card. In fact, Patterson takes digital photos at all events. They're cheap, kids love them, and most importantly, they keep kids coming back.

Candice Irby's media center at Highland High School in Bakersfield, CA, isn't just a gathering place of bodies but also of ideas. Irby's main goal is to promote information literacy, and she's turned her classroom into an incubator that keeps churning out new projects. The high school library Web site(www.khsd.k12.ca.us/highland/departments/library/default.htm) is a one-stop shopping approach to all the resources needed to complete research assignments and offers collaborative lesson plans for teachers. At the beginning of each school year, Irby meets with her teaching colleagues to make sure they know what her Web site has to offer and how it can best serve students. "The online research guide is an attempt to standardize the way our students and staff address the research process," Irby says. "Our goal is to provide an easy-to-access research model for both students and staff that will be routinely updated."

A Student Library Advisory Board, consisting of teens from all grades, was created last year strictly to devise library-related events. This year, the group is focusing on graphic novels, and students are taking the lead in building the library's collection. Student advisors accompany Irby and her staff on graphic novel-buying sprees, recommending titles such as Kingdom Come (DC Comics, 1997) by Mark Waid, Alex Ross, and Todd Klein and the Ranma 1/2 series (Viz) by Rumiko Takahashi.

Last year, the board hosted Expresso Yourself, a daylong celebration of student art, poetry, and music, while sipping espresso in the library. The plan for next year is to cohost a library event with bilingual students to celebrate the Mexican holiday El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

The advisory board hasn't slowed down, and ideas just keep flowing. Students continue to recommend favorite books, find ways to make the library more inviting, and raise scholarship money for graduating board members.

As a certified library media specialist, Joanna McNally brings extra value to her job at the Lakeshore Northeast Ohio Computer Association (LNOCA) (www.lnoca.org/www/ed/Ed_Services.htm), a nonprofit organization that provides instruction, software, and computer assistance to K–12 schools. McNally specifically oversees the training and implementation of library automation and electronic resources for more than 50 school systems through the Information Network for Ohio Schools, a project supported by LNOCA.

"I really enjoy my position because it provides me with an opportunity to affect and work with a variety of schools, school libraries, and school library media staff, having an impact upon the individuals who work directly with students and teachers," she says.

McNally has single-handedly written and submitted two Library Services and Technology Act grants garnering more than $1.3 million to automate 140 school libraries. She also developed the Curriculum Alignment Project, a summer workshop that will help over 140 teachers and library media specialists design lesson plans that correspond to the new Ohio Academic Content Standards (www.lnoca.org/www/CAP.htm).

As vice president of the Ohio Educational Library Media Association (OELMA), McNally also chaired the upcoming 2003 OELMA Annual Conference, which will take place in Columbus, October 15–17. Keynote speakers will include library consultants John Shannon and Becky Schreiber, Doug Johnson, director of the Mankato (MN) Public Schools media and technology program, and Ross Todd, director of the Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries at Rutgers University.

Susan Moore, the manager of children's and young adult services at the Louisville (KY) Free Public Library, has spent the last few years promoting literacy in preschool through elementary-age kids. And she has wasted no time—the library offers a host of successful programs. Early Sprouts, primarily funded by the Neighborhood Place social services center, brought together 12 elementary schools and local public libraries in a five-week program that highlights the family's role in emerging literacy skills.

"We take our position in the community very seriously and have been working to develop partnerships with other community agencies who are also dedicated to the well-being and educational success of children," Moore says. The library has also piloted the Sibling Program in a local elementary school to help kids better interact with their infant siblings by reading aloud and engaging in various activities with them. The program benefits the infant's development, while helping the older sibling's reading skills. A partnership with a local museum provides free admission for library cardholders and free art workshops at the library. Success By Six, a local rendition of an existing United Way initiative, encourages a love of reading and expands on the library's Read Baby Read program, which provides literacy materials to new low-income parents.

Funded by National City Bank, the Books Open Up Your World project provides culturally diverse book collections to 55 day-care centers serving children from low- to moderate-income families. Most recently, Hillerich and Bradsby, makers of the Louisville Slugger bat, funded a grant to provide local libraries with 200 copies of J. K. Rowling's new Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Scholastic) upon its June release. The grant will also pay for 180 additional copies of the book, which will be given away at weekly drawings during the library's summer reading program.

Teresa Diaz had her work cut out for her when she became the school librarian at Johnston High School in Austin, TX, in 1999. With a 64 percent Hispanic and 20 percent African-American student population, Diaz had to create a program that would cater to a wide range of learning backgrounds. "Many of them didn't necessarily have the requisite skills or know-how to do well in a school setting," she says. "[So] I tried to place myself in the students' mind-set when envisioning what the library should be."

Diaz took a special interest in the fight against censorship, an issue she felt was important to her 1,000 students, many of whom are bilingual or new immigrants from Mexico. Banned Books Week turned into a yearlong project, with students creating a Teen Advisory Board and book club. The groups meet each week to discuss books, hang student book reviews on library shelves, and promote reading. Since then, the library's Spanish-language book collection has exploded from 20 to about 600 volumes, and it's still growing. In 2001, Johnston High School shed its designation as a low-performing school.

Inspired by Laura Bush's June 2002 White House conference on school libraries, Diaz is part of a committee that plans to bring prominent administrators, librarians, and other educators to Texas. The Strong Minds, Strong Scores conference on June 10—which will feature researcher Keith Curry Lance, San Jose University Professor David Loertscher, and former Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education Susan Neuman—will demonstrate the many ways a strong library program can boost student achievement.

Diaz's determination hasn't gone unnoticed. She was the recipient of the 2003 American Association of School Librarians' Frances Henne award, which recognizes a school library media specialist with five years of experience or less who demonstrates leadership qualities with students, teachers, and administrators.