National Library Week and Extending the Circle of Gratitude

This morning, I arrived at work to discover an email from principal Robin Ballarin. In conjunction with National Library Week, she recognized the legacy of our school's string of librarian "Sues," which includes me.

NOTE: It was indeed serendipitous when I got hired as the third teacher librarian in the history of the school and realized that all three of us are named some variation of "Su-": Sue Arthur, Susan Schreiber, and Suzanne Sannwald.

Throughout the day, I have received thoughtful responses to Robin's email, and it reminds me that what I love most about being a librarian is getting to work in community with others. It is not just "my" library - it is our library, and I extend the kind acknowledgements to countless people who help enrich our school's library program.

While I cannot possibly name everyone, here are some people who regularly contribute to the West Hills Library:

• Tech Specialist Jovan Bessette - My office mate and constant collaborator with all things tech, Jovan offers a calming influence, positivity when helping, and valuable mentoring for many students.
• Student Library and Tech Aides - Our faithful cadre of student aides are essential to our daily operations - they help us in many ways, and we enjoy getting to know them, as well!
• Custodial and Facilities Team - Given the square footage of the library, the number of trash cans, the amount of furniture, the occurrences of leaks, and more...this team works hard year round to ensure the library is a welcoming environment.
• Individualized Instruction Team - Teachers, aides, and students have been great partners of the library. Currently, Aide Ashley Anagnos (previously Julie Thomas) supervises the library daily during Period 7, and several times a week, students gain work experience by helping care for the library facility. Also, Cathy Coffin is a great club co-adviser!
• Campus Supervisors - Our campus supervisors are always just a walkie-talkie call away, and they - typically Jake Schwartzwald these days - also keep the library open and available for students after school.
• Site Substitute Eric Hagen - When Eric is not assigned to cover for other teachers, he is always willing to help out in the library - he has been a welcomed addition!
• Guidance Team - The Guidance team makes a great neighbor! They help me secure quality student aides, partner with assisting new and exiting students, and are caring when I alert them to students who may need extra support.
• District-wide Library Staff - Teacher Librarians and Library Technicians from other sites, as well as the district Library and Media Services Office Assistant Laurie Tong, are professional colleagues who work with me to push our collective libraries forward. They also contribute tangibly to our students as we regularly share both print and online resources.
• District ETS and ITS Teams - These teams are our lifelines to supporting teachers and students with technology. They help make resources available that facilitate learning and with troubleshooting and solution finding so that we are never alone.
• District Curriculum Team - The Curriculum Department helps coordinate district-level resources that we are able to share with our students, and their support also bolsters our site-level efforts.
• Community Partners - We are fortunate to have community partners, including the West Hills High School PTSA and Foundation, which donate resources to the library, and the Santee County Library, whose librarians visit monthly delivering book talks that ignite student excitement about reading.
• Office Team - I am indebted to the admin and classified office staff. Debbie and Janelle (and Courtney) patiently help me navigate everything budget-related; Sheryle saves me hours with her report running wizardry; Lori and Kim care for students I send their way physically and mentally; Brenda, Laura, and Shari always looks out for us; and Robin, Ginny, and the VP team of five are dependably supportive.
• Our Teachers - While this is only my second year at West Hills, I am grateful that my teaching colleagues have been so warm and welcoming. Thank you to all who kindly share their classes by collaborating with me. The invitation is always open to all - I love having any opportunity to work with you!
• Our Students - We have amazing students. The library can be a bustling place - I encourage you to stop by at lunch sometime to experience the rush - and yet it works because of our students. I regularly witness students help one another, and I rely upon many students who volunteer their help, adopting the library without ever receiving formal credit. Even those students I may not know as well, they make a difference just by showing up. Their presence matters - they and all of you make the library what it is!

Thank you, Wolf Pack, and Happy Library Week!

It Takes A Village! Extending Deep Appreciation To All Who Help Me Help Students

Recently, Mrs. Ruggles and Mrs. Romanowski extended an invitation to collaborate on a Bless Me, Ultima project for their 10th grade English classes. I always love working with our teachers and was excited to gather a mix of print and electronic resources that students would need.

To complement the core novel, many topics challenge students to read thematically-related texts, most of which are not freely accessible on the general web. While several books were available in the West Hills library, I certainly did not have enough copies of key books - nor all of the titles - in our collection alone.

Fortunately, since our school is networked as part of a district-wide online library catalog, we have the ability to search the collections of sister schools. After sending out an all call email to my fellow GUHSD Teacher Librarians and Library Technicians, they immediately stepped up to help, just as they always do. They found requested books on their shelves and packaged them up for delivery.

Bless Me, Ultima Project Books

From there, our GUHSD warehouse department ensured safe delivery of the books from the lending sites to West Hills, just as they always do. Knowing how this adds literal weight to their loads, I want to express extra appreciation for the critical role that they play in enabling me to support student learning.

In general, once at West Hills, student office aides are responsible for getting packages sorted into my personal mail cubby. Then, to notify students that books are available for pickup, I rely upon library student aides to deliver notes to classrooms, where teachers kindly accommodate passing them along.

Inter-library loan (ILL) - as this is called in the library world - is a wonderful thing, because it allows for efficient resource sharing, something that is not only practical, but also essential given limited budgets. ILL only works, though, because of the help of many different people who work in concert to help deliver knowledge into the hands of our students.

This is just one example, among countless throughout the year, that illustrates how it indeed takes a village to successfully support our students! Thank you to everyone above - and others who help in big and small ways year round - for contributing to student learning!