Educational Philosophy

A good library is much more than a repository of books— it is a classroom as well as a community space. I believe a good media center functions as a meta-classroom that integrates information literacy lessons with the regular curriculum. It is a place to research, a place to collaborate, a place to get technology assistance, a place to read, and above all, a place to learn. 

Likewise, a librarian does not merely take care of books, but curates information, and more importantly, curates learning, by providing the lessons, resources, and activities students need in order to become fully information literate. Further, in the media center, students can learn to curate their own minds by pursuing personal interests and learning for pleasure outside of school. As a media specialist, I encourage exploration, creativity, and collaboration, and strive to promote a lifelong love of reading and learning.  

My eighth grade teacher taught us something that always stuck with me: “You don’t have to know all the answers. You just have to know where to find them.” This resonated with me so deeply that I believe it set me on the path I walk today. In the age of Google, finding the answers sounds deceptively simple, but a search engine cannot provide the higher-order logic and reasoning needed to effectively evaluate resources. My goal, as a media specialist, is to teach my students the information literacy skills they need in order to be able to find the answers to any question. These skills are critical to success in the twenty-first century. 

Above all, I am responsive to the needs of my community and school. As the school media specialist, I am a resource not only to my students, but also to my fellow teachers. I ensure that the library collection has all of the resources my teachers need in order to effectively do their jobs, and I stay on top of educational and technological trends in order to be able to alert teachers to new teaching tools. I invite collaboration with all subject areas and love nothing more than working with teachers to plan creative, engaging projects utilizing the library’s resources that not only increase students’ content knowledge but also teach research skills. Being responsive to the needs of my school also requires me to be constantly learning, both about the school (the curriculum, different faculty members’ teaching styles, etc.) and my own profession. I believe this modeling of lifelong learning, as well as my enthusiasm for the subject, can significantly impact the culture of learning at a school.