“As I look back on my 40+ year career as a school librarian/library supervisor, I take the greatest satisfaction in knowing I created or helped create places for children in schools where they felt safe, welcome, and affirmed.”
This post reminded me of my younger days when I loved going to the library. I recall as a child in elementary school, I used to love going to the school library. My parents introduced me to the bookmobile from the public library and every week I anticipate the bookmobile coming to our neighborhood. I was so proud to have a library card.
When I got into junior high school, I had trouble fitting in with others. So, I discovered the school library. That was my refuge when I was feeling lonely or scared in junior high. Eventually, I got to know the school librarian and she knew what kind of books I liked. When I would enter the library she would welcome me and let me know what new books arrived that might interested me.
When I went to high school I didn't know many people there. But the public library was right next door to the school. When entered the library, I felt like I was among friends I knew and who knew me. I would go to the library right after school finished and then would get rides home near dinner time. I would get my parents to take me to the library and I would spend the day there many Saturdays. The books in the library were my friends.
Recently, we bought a vacation home in Florida. I couldn't wait to gather proof of residency so that I could go to the public library and get a library card. There are so many resources accessible online and at the library.
When my husband has a problem or wants to find out something, he says we have to go to the library. He feels that is the first place we should go to start looking for resources. It is the jumping-off place for finding information about any topic.
I want to show students that they have a friend in the library system also. I love to see young children at the library learning to love like I do. I'm so thankful for their parents who have introduced the library to their children.
I think it is important to take classes to the school library regularly. I would take them every other week. One week would be to find books to read for pleasure or look up information that interests them. The other week is for a specific purpose or assignment that I give them in class. They can find the necessary information at the library to complete the assignment.
Do you take your students to the library? How often and for what purpose? Please share.
Photo by Shunya Koide on Unsplash
1 comment:
Thanks for posting this! The library is still magical. I miss welcoming students at Stone Academy! There are so many ways to engage students. For us, it was devising a system of personalized shelf markers that contained their student ID barcode. They would lewrn to use the shelf markers, and also learned to check out their own books using the barcode on the shelf marker and a scanner. Sometimes they visited just to use the scannwr, but over time, they grew to love the entire environment.
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