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We're moving & shaking
March 19, 2007

Library Journal just released its Movers & Shakers supplement and I was very pleased to find a bumper crop of school and youth librarians.

"Gene Ambaum," isn't just a terrific YA librarian somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, he's also half of the team that produces the hilarious library comic Unshelved. As a  librarian, he likes being the adult who treats teens with respect, "especially the teenage book and comic geeks." Sound familiar? We interviewed Ambaum last year.

In Georgia, Melissa Johnston is "working double-time to convince legislators that media specialists are teachers whose programs should be funded as classroom instruction." Melissa is the media specialist at the Silver City Elementary, Cumming. While in Oregon, Gregory Lum, librarian at the Jesuit High School, Portland, created a program that enabled school library personnel to attend their first statewide conference.

Popping off of page 13 is my old friend and former Brooklyn PL colleague Lisa Von Drasek, children's librarian, academic librarian, and adjunct instructor, Bank Street College of Education, New York. Are you sure you're busy enough, Lisa? Farther up in New York State, Julie Masterson-Smith has made a name for herself by making "library instruction easy to take, for both sutdents and teachers." Julie is the media specialist at Honeoye Falls-Lima Central School District.

It was great to see Kelly Czarnecki, who co-authored our January feature on Teen Second Life. Kelly is teen librarian at ImaginOn, Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (PLCMC), NC. If she could, Kelly says she would "redefine success, not through the numbers of people or materials circulating but through the relationships we make and the relevancy of our services." I couldn't agree more. Also from PLCMC is Helene Blowers, the public services technology director, who co-led the development of such great sites for kids as BookHive.org, Brarydog.net, and StoryPlace.org.

Library goddess Bonnie Peirce is well-known for her collaborative blog and wiki, where librarians can share their favorite books with each other and the public. Bonnie, who is head of children's services at the Dover Town Library, MA, wants the site to become a "learning platform for those not embracing [blog and wiki] technologies." 

Robin Brenner is making libraries safe for graphic novels. She doesn't just review them on her terrific web site No Flying, No Tights, this reference and teen services librarian at the Brookline Public Library, MA, helped establish the new YALSA list, Great Graphic Novels for Teens.

Congratulations to all of this year's Movers & Shakers!

Posted by Brian Kenney on March 19, 2007 | Comments (0)