“In the afternoon, we went to go choose our book of the week. I love our library time, even if the librarian thinks I am a weirdo.” – page 130 – Sara and the Search for Normal.
Brace yourself, this is a LONG read, but I advise you to take this post in chunks to see how this is all related – and see how important it is to reach students who have been crying for help, yet do it quietly- yet often being the quietest, are the loudest screamers for help in my 28+ years of being an educator. If anything, Wesley King‘s book has shown me this,
I am not quite sure when I became the person I am today that is kept up late by the worries, regrets, anger, and disappointments of students around me. It often keeps me up late and pushes me into emails that often get sent out anywhere from 1:00 to 4:00 AM.
They do drive me late into the night, but ultimately, no matter how much I try – separating the experiences that seep into my, that surround me all day, are almost impossible to separate from my persona life. They stay with me despite the hardest I try to keep them at a distance. I try to layer that distance deeper than the thickest layer of insulation you can imagine, surrounding myself with canines, felines, 19 + aquarium, white noise, family, quiet. As an educator, you understand this. Those outside of education, to many they wonder why educators and those in education work so darn hard, so many hours, are driven so much. Unless they also allow the emotions and frustrations of the many students to also seep into them on a daily basis, it will be impossible to understand, fro anyone to understand, unless they experience it.
This and more kept me up through 261 pages of Wesley King’s BRILLIANT YA novel, Sara and the Search for Normal. Coincidentally, this is Library month – and a quick FYI on some key events this month – then I will explain why this is important:
National Library Worker’s Day – April 9th
National Library Outreach Day – April 10th
Take Action for Libraries Day – April 11th
The theme for National Library Week 2024 (April 7-13).
National Arab American Heritage Day
So before you say it, let me say it. There are a hundred different days and events to celebrate in any given day, in any given calendar year- we can pick anything to celebrate we want, from pancake day, to flower day, to even Buffet Day (hold me BACK!) to even International Moment of Laughter Day – today- I laugh you not. 🙂
But, what we choose to celebrate- that often can help others- is sometimes the best choice, at least for me. I decided a LONG time ago, I can reach more students in need being a librarian than being an educator in a classroom, and out of the 1000 miscues and indecisions I have made, this has been the right one I have made. For 100 other people, their being en educator has saved 100 more students than I would have by remaining in the classroom- that;s just life folks, we are all different and tap into different ways to impact others. I think some os us just need to be brave and not be afraid to embrace one thing we are better at than another, and as for me, whew- I have a long way to go to become the person I want to be, especially as a librarian. However, students all along thew way have helped me realize how powerful, amazing, and magical the role of a librarian, and being in a library can be. I see it every day in the fears, boasts, and bravado of students every day. One of the best kept places in the world was being in Mexico City and Mexico, and that is another story for another day, but I kid you not, that is one of the BEST experiences anyone can have in realizing how magical Mexico is for your mind soul, and life. Again, another day.
Similarly, one of the most amazing, best professional secrets is the power and magic of a library and a librarian – and many, I would say a majority – would NEVER, EVER believe that, because they do not REALIZE what that means, Many have a preconception of what a librarian is, does, or is supposed do, that falls 90% short of the reality – I still am discovering this. Students have been the ones that have taught me and shown me what they need, thanks to being is this role. Now all we need is others to learn the same lesson to change their mental healthiness, their perspective of what litereacy and reading can be and is, what it means for them to take on the toughest of days, and have a space and person to coach them forward without having to be on any given field to be coached.
What if we never mentioned National Arab American Heritage month and the two students I see every day in my library (and I do) who are Arab American, never hear me say anything about it, ever. They probably would think that does not mean anything to me, hence, they seem themselves as irrelevant.
What if the students who are finding poetry is not about rhyming, but about expressing? That it can be the one means of expressing without ANY rules, how they deal with the depression, the pain of abuse, the isolation of being “different” than what everyone considers being “normal”, that not being the AP or honors students does NOT mean they are less, that not going to college but going into a trade or technical field they are AMAZING at, were made for, does not make them less, that never mentioning that poetry can be about farming, can be about lashing out at being underestimated and coming through a dark tunnel and being true to themselves, THAT would be a tragedy. Poetry deserves a chance as well, just as being Arab American, just as being a librarian, just as being able to not feel your very best some days but having a place to let that be okay and not having to fit into what others consider being a normal student every day- JUST being able to have a place.
The days we celebrate are important, because they also represent ways to reach students of every background and every ability level, and whether you realized this or not – they provide a road to reaching ever type of person, just as what a librarian and library can do. I could count on MAYBE my ten fingers and ten toes in a WEEK, trust me, a WEEK, how many stories I hear from students about how some teachers, some family members, some administrators, some business owners, some siblings have disrespected them verbally, physically, mentally, or just do not “get them? because these same people are looking for someone “better” than them. I hear this in 100 conversations that go around and around so many people – yes, in my school library.
People that know me know, I talk ALOT. I type/talk alot, I throw out sarcastic comments all the time ot get reactions, I like throwing statements out just to get reactions from people. I love it. That is just me. Yet, I could NEVER, EVER keep up with the disappointments and frustrations I hear from so many students on a daily basis, from the countless students that surround me in a place known as the library. I feel often like a sponge soaking it in until I feel like the world’s largest puffer fish just waiting to explode. Can you imagine how these students feel, with that feeling of trying to find ways to cope with these frustrations? Can you imagine what it feels like to them to not be perceived as “normal” because their peers think or see them as deviating away from what their choice of peers’ “normal” is? Try to, and just imagine your normal is like no one else you know, how do you cope each day with the “normal” expectation of life? How How How keeps flashing across your brain- and then imagine taking the one place where students can possibly go to just THINk about that during the course of a day – try to imagine.
Yes I get upset when the library where I have set strict guidelines for a list of 20 things needs to be done is overcome with more people’s conversations than. my mind can take in – absolutely. It just means I have had more conversations pass through my ears that are seething with frustrations from these students, more than I can offer solutions for, and absolutely it affects me. AB-so-lutely. YET, it often takes me some time to calm myself down in that agitated state to be THANKFUL they have felt they COULD come to a place, this place, the library, to vent, to grieve, to decompress, to voice their anger, to voice their bitterness, and YES…
…on top of all those realizations, on top of ALL THOSE, there is the typical teenager using a place to just wanting to get out of class. Of course, that welcome to teenage world. Trying to discern between that and all other purposes, amid the unrelenting calls for technology questions/problems/life threatening issues, to requests for this announcement, that student to come here, these students needs to be relocated to library without warning, “Do I have a Kleenex/bandaid/paper towel for the spill. pass to come down later to get a book (do they want a book or getting out of class?), do I have snacks, do I know why my chrombook cracked despite the weight of 90 lbs in my bookbag without being in a case ?, how do I send a pdf via a word document in a zoom session- Can I find that blue covered book about the girl who escapes the boy that has been eye candying her? – Why is Anne Franke banned is a question I need you to help me with in addressing my AP paper with APA citations… STOP.
REALIZE – this is a NORMAL day in any single day of school and unless you know this, it might seem too much, for the average, out of school out of classroom, out of library person. But it is the reality of our teens and I can assure you, whether it was COVID or post COVID, or even preCOVID, the mental balancing act for students has never been easy. EVER. You can place your definition of Normal ion the other layers of your spouse, sibling, parents, and friend’s definition of normal and it will STILL be hard to find an exact match for the person standing in front of you at the circulation desk, deal with i.t. :). That is the reality. So-
Upon realizing all these amazing scenarios in Sara and the Search for Normal, this month, I am asking YOUR help this month.
Knowing and realizing what I have discovered about school librarians, school libraries, public libraries, individuals in power that might not realize what libraries mean to students, community members and parents that might not be aware of what occurs and needs to occur in libraries, how paraprofessionals are needed alongside certified librarians to change this cultural of not being confident of oneself to being confident as a student – in this world of adversity and doubt of the qualifications of a certified librarian – you can indeed help me, help schools and help students in this way:
- During this month reach out to your state Senator, State Representative and express that in talking and forming a two way conversation with someone you know as a librarian, you see how valuable a place a library can be, WHEN USED PROPERLY. This obviously goes forward to the same with a qualified librarian. ~
- Reach out to your school administrator and school board and look at OTHER schools that not only have certified librarians in their schools, but WHAT HAPPENS that you LIKE that comes out of those libraries – and what you would like to see happen in your school library. Here are some things you might not have thought of – bringing authors that write about trades, vocations and skilled labor and talk about how this is also a part of real life and essential and not looked down on because it does not involve (dare I say the c word? COLLEGE!) but maybe an internship, an apprenticeship – letting students interview community members to get to REALLY know their community and inviting them into the schools to play a part and connect to their classes – letting students create podcasts/videos/literary art magazines/ participate in board meetings/community events – acquiring new technology and finding ways to use that technology in their community- finding places where students can lead/present/create/express – lead students to lobby and advocate in their legislative halls – (and 100 more things I can show on request thanks to students who have taught me. ~
- Help me bring the Festival of Words back to a level of honor and remain in the permanent event status that it deserves to be in. Listen, you know as well as I do Festival are AMAZING- Apple Scrapple, RiverFest, Food truck competitions, Dover Days, Sea Witch Festival, Firefly Festival, and more – I need help in making sure Delaware has the BEST Book Festival on the East Coast for children, teens and adults, with maintaining a closeknit, community feel. (Hey, isn’t that Delaware?) I have made great contacts with amazing authors (Thanks to students) that are willing to come Delaware/Maryland, willing to meet and greet and introduce some amazing Independent Book stores to students and residents, and have the ability to create a portable “third space” for librarians, students, parents, and educators. All we need is your help to keep it. ! I have been lucky enough to have businesses step forward and offer to allow me to reconfigure a book festival that will remain here for all the above mentioned, but I need more individuals, community members, educators, librarians, those vested in what a literacy festival can mean for our students. I need your help in adding to that foundation to make that a reality. Please continue to identify those sources of sponsorship that are willing to bring that author, that artist, that poet, that panel, that workshop to the very students that will benefit and grow from that experience. Our state and our students deserve that experience. We had MANY MANY years of s successful run of Authors Among Us and I want this for Delaware.~
- Reach out to the State Administrator’s Association and let them know – what school libraries and school librarians can do to further enhance student’s academic success, mental success, social success, and overall success in all schools in a district. ~
- Become familiar with your state Librarian Resources such as DLA and DASL, and they can provide statistics, resources, and ideas on how you can address #’s 1, 2, 3 and 4. Anytime anyone tries to make anything tied to literacy political, avoid this tendency. Literacy and education is about being nonpartisan and providing connections, knowledge, and all information to everyone so that can make the best decisions for THEMSELVES. I certainly would never try to assume what is best for another person, but would try my very best to obtain all accurate information to make the best decisions that fit me. That is the purpose and mission of librarianship.~
- Please read Wesley King’s Sara and the Search for Normal. 95 % of what you need to know about what librarians want for their patrons is all in there. Brilliant.~
- In light of what “normal” is, the exciting opportunity April 17th presents an opportunity to discuss and address neurodivergency and this is SO SO prevalent is so many of our students- from young to college – and here is a chance to “brain”storm how these amazing characterstics can be also addressing the needs of our students now. This is an author visit that is so much more than just a read but a chance to delve into resources that our students needs to have help navigating!~
- Contact DSEA’s President Stephanie Ingram and Secretary of Education Dr. Holodick, BOTH AVID readers and advocates of literacy – but without knowing what we can do to improve how our librarians, libraries, and actions to literacy can be improved, nothing different occurs. YOUR experiences, stories, and expectation are what will move change.~
- DO not be okay with just knowing a librarian position exists (if you are lucky) in your school. If a school library and librarians exists, PLEASE express your desire to not USE that space for JUST a video game room, a study hall, a classroom that takes up all opportunities for students to decompress, explore, choose, investigate on their own. Story after story exists in our state of a librarian or library in name only – and nothing, ZERO, ZILVCH, NADA, being available to what our students need. FIND OUT HOW your librarian and library are being used and NOT in name only. This occurs WAY to much and hence, the misconceptions and stereotypes of what a librarian does or can do. You can help change this and you alone.~
- Celebrate 2024’s Legislative Day, just as they did in 2017! Thank these legislators for what they do- Delaware Libraries Week 2024 is taking place thanks to the dedicated support of our legislative sponsors: Representative Baumbach, Representative Morrison, Representative Romer, Representative Dorsey Walker, Senator Huxtable, and Senator Sturgeon. They have brought this initiative to life through House Concurrent Resolution No. 106, representing the unified support and shared conviction of all Representatives and Senators. This support reflects the legislature’s understanding of libraries’ significant and transformative influence.
Questions?
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