What It Means to Be the Librarian I Never Had as a Kid
Having a strong religious foundation was my parents’ top priority when I was growing up. They were college-educated and supplemented my academic education at home. I picked up my huge vocabulary from them, but I didn’t know that K-12 schools had libraries, much less librarians. The first time I entered a school library that wasn’t at a university was after I had been hired as an English teacher in a high school. I distinctly remember walking in, in awe, and asking, “What is this place and how do I work here?” That made the librarian chuckle, but it planted the seed for the next branch of my career. Since I know the distinct disadvantages of missing out on having a library and librarians, I am especially conscientious of the experience my students have. There was no one in my life as a kid to ask me to think outside the box. The first time I learned I could disagree with a text, I was in college. That’s way too late. So the most important thing …
