This interview was with , the media specialist at Middle School, the only

middle school in the system. I chose to interview because she

works in the same system that I do, and she’s the only middle school media specialist in the system. The
following are ’s answers to the interview questions, then a personal reflection of what I
learned from the interview that affected my knowledge and perceptions of the school library media
specialist profession.

How long have you been a media specialist?

“This is my first full year as a media specialist over here. I started in January, so half of school term last
year. This is my 20th year in education, but my 11th year as a media specialist.”

How long were you a classroom teacher before becoming a media specialist? How have your past job
experiences prepared you, directly or indirectly, for this position?
“Well, I can honestly say being in the classroom was an advantage coming into the media center. So, I
did my first five years as a middle grade teacher in County and then I did ten years in
County as a media specialist. As a media specialist, I worked at the elementary, middle, and
high school levels, so I have a lot of experience at all three levels. After ten years, I kind of got burned
out a little bit, and I wanted to go back into the classroom just to familiarize myself with what was going
on back in school in the classroom. So, I left , came to , and I thought I
was going to be working in the middle school, but they put me at the , which was a
blessing because of smaller class sizes. They did that because I had been out of the classroom for so
long, so I got to work with the alternative school kids, which was very fulfilling, challenging as well, but it
helped me get familiarized back with the classroom standards because when I left we were on GPS (now
we're all on Georgia Standards of Excellence), just to get back into the field of teaching and what's
expected of the students because being in the media center you kind of get away from that a little bit
because of all of the other duties that you're assigned. So, that four years in the classroom that I spent in
was the best experience I had for coming over to the middle school because
is a little bit different than , so the experience prepared me for this because now I can
relate more with the teachers on what they are expected to teach. Because I taught language arts, that
helped me be a better media specialist because now I can anticipate what my language arts teachers
need, and it helps me organize better because I know how the school operates.”

Why did you choose to pursue a degree to become a school library media specialist?
“Okay, being completely honest, when I was first teaching at Middle School as a new
teacher, you know they just throw you in there. I did not know anything, and it wasn't the media
specialist, it was her assistant who helped me learn what the media center can offer as far as checking
out books. And every time I went in, the assistant was so helpful, but the media specialist wasn't doing
anything. I thought, ‘How do I get her job?’ I went back to school to Cambridge in the library program,
but I wanted to just help new teachers because when I first came in I knew nothing, and that media
specialist assistant helped me get my classroom setup, she helped me get my textbooks, because you
know in media centers issue textbooks, and she just told me how the school operates
because you need that hub in the building for new teachers and for helping teachers find information.
So, our job is finding information and even though the media specialist didn't do it, her assistant was
awesome and she helped me find information and be a better teacher, so I want to help teachers be
better teachers.”

What educational preparation have you had for being a school librarian? What was your experience with
that? What didn’t you learn in school that you wish you had?
“So, I went to Cambridge, I got my Master’s at Cambridge. I went to the six-week program in Boston for
a summer and then came back and did the distance learning here. Cambridge, as far as book wise and
teaching you what you need to know about a library program and being an administrator, was
awesome. What they didn't teach me was… I can work with kids because you have expectations from
kids, but I wasn't prepared to work with adults, and you really work a lot with the adults in the building,
and you need them to help you make your media center better. As far as collaboration, I don't think I
was prepared enough to work with adults because I'm a teacher, and I know when we close our door it’s
our room and it's our world, and it's hard to let other people come in. So, I wasn't prepared for the
collaboration part or the difficulty in getting teachers to collaborate.”

What experience have you had with cooperative program planning? with cooperative teaching?
“In County, it sucked. I mean, we just had so much to do on our plate that being an advocate
for reading was not a priority for the media specialists in because you had so many
other duties. In , it’s different. I'm working with the language arts teachers, kids are
reading and writing in there, so I offer my services to everyone, but specifically to them because I want
to use them to get the kids in the media center. So, I offer them things. This year I offered them $50 in
Scholastic books as a way to get them to fill out a survey to see what they would like for me to do. And
from that survey, I got a lot of information and basically they just want breaks. So, what I've done is I've
created a curriculum with six different classes which I've already had over the years of working, so six
different classes throughout the year that I go in on each team and I'll take that teacher’s team for the
day. So, if I'm working with just Miss Smith and Miss Smith has 7th grade language arts that whole day,
I’m Miss Smith for the day. But that day I'm bringing the kids into the media center. I'm doing
orientation, teaching them how to check out books. This year is going to be a little different, but I'm
showing teachers how to operate our website so that they can know how to find books online before
they even get in here so it can minimize the amount of time that they have to spend in here in the
media center. So, basically I bribe my language arts teachers with free stuff to let me come in once a
month and teach.”

How would you go about developing a strong team approach with other teachers? How would you get
reluctant teachers to utilize the library?
“Oh, if you feed them, they will come. Snacks, food, anything basically to get them in. Now they come
anyway because we do the lamination and copying and everything, but other than that they don't really
need anything from us so it's food. I have snacks and chips and candy and water, so if you come in, I
offer you that all the time. I think that's a great starter.”

How do you see the role of the library in the overall reading program of the school?
“We're supposed to promote reading. I love reading. I know I'm lame; my kids tell me I'm lame. I'm a
nerd. I've been that my whole life so I'm okay with it. But we're supposed to promote a love of reading,
so my job is to create. I create an author of the month. I create a book of the month and I put that PDF
in a classroom so that the kids can read for free, and it's just about my book for that month. So, my first
one this month, which didn't go too well because we have no kids, and I tried to get the staff to do it but
they wouldn't, is Wayward Children. I don't know if you’ve ever heard of Sideways Stories or Wayside
School. It’s an elementary/middle school book, but it just tells about all the quirky things that can
happen in the school and exaggerates each character in the book. So, I create a story about myself and I
exaggerate some things about myself, my love of reading, because when you talk to me about anything
I'm going to come up with, ‘Oh, I read a book about that! You know, you might like this book!’ So, I
exaggerated myself a little bit in it just to get them interested in it. But author of the month, book of the
month, and then little games and prizes just to get the teachers involved and the kids involved.”
How would you go about: (a) promoting appreciation and interest in the use of resource center
materials?
“I keep all the passwords. I’m the password keeper. But as far as our resources, I created a classroom
page on Google classroom. I work with this summer and , and I got some ideas on how
to create a Google classroom, so I just created a classroom for the teachers so anything that they need I
put on that classroom page. I put a request for materials on it. I call it a “say it in writing” form. If you
need anything, I put all of our class sets, I created a list and put it on that page so if they want a
classroom set of novels, they know what we already have, what the Lexile level is, who the author is,
and how many books we have of that. What else have I done? Technical requests. because I have to deal
with computer stuff sometimes. I did a technical request form. I just created a class page that the
teachers can go to for their one stop shop about anything in the media center.”

(b) promoting storytelling, story reading, book talks, and other resource center programs?
“Book talks. So, for storytelling, that's more of an elementary thing, but for middle school I do my book
talks about books that I've read that I like. I'll just give him a little blurb about it, just something like a
movie trailer, just something to get them interested. One of my favorite ones is called Frenemies.
They're your friends, but they're also your enemies. You know at the middle school level they always
have drama and cliques. So, I'll just tell them the title of the book, the author, and I read just a little brief
part, maybe the first couple of pages or something, from the book. That's how I get the kids to want to
read my books, because kids don't like to read. So, I just give book talks. I had story reading last year at
beginning of the year because my principal is very big on reading. So, last year when I was in the
classroom at the beginning of the year, we read a book together, chapter by chapter a chapter. Again,
I'm dealing with alternative school students who hate to read, and so we kind of read one of the books
that's not forbidden, but more risqué than you would read with fifth or sixth graders. These were eighth
graders. We read the book and what was rewarding for me is that my students had never read a full
novel. So, we read a novel over a whole nine-weeks, every day for thirty minutes, and they had never
read a full novel. It’s those little things that make a difference.”

What is your experience in leading professional development? Especially in leading technology-related

professional development?
“I have a lot of experience but I hate it. Again, working with the adults is different than working with
kids. Kids adore you, while adults are like, ‘You're wasting my time, lady. Just tell me what I need to do’
or, ‘We could have done this in an email.’ So, professional development on technology. I have given
professional development on software, because I'm the software person. I just try first of all to give
them a lot of handouts, short and simple, follow step by step, especially for some of my older teachers
who don't really like technology that much. I'm always available. You can always ask a question and I'll
help you as much as I can, but I hate professional development. I try to do it in small groups because
when you have a big group it’s a disaster waiting to happen, so I try to do it with no more than five or six
at a time, and then do it by experience level. So, if you're an expert, you don't need to come to my
Google 101 because you already have that.”

How do you ensure your own continued professional growth? In what areas do you feel you would like
to develop your professional skills and knowledge further?
“They have this great program with RESA, a media specialist program, that I've taken, maybe eight years
ago. It teaches you how to be a media specialist in this time of the 21st century learner or teacher. They
teach us older ones how to relate to the younger kids who are more tech savvy, so that was a great
program. And then I also went back and got my specialist degree in curriculum and instruction, and then
we’re always taking classes online for something. I also got my reading endorsement.”

Describe how you will create an inclusive space where diversity and equity are valued by all learners in
the school community.
“Well, just like you do in your classroom. This is a safe space, all ideas are welcome, everyone is
welcome. I tell everyone that I am the steward of the media center, but this is your media center. This is
for you to come in, so my space is your space. What I do is we have a calendar for the teachers if they
want to come. Now this year they might not, but if they wanted to come and use our space, I have a
calendar and all you have to do is sign up, and if it's available it’s yours. You tell me what you want and
I'm here to help you and provide you resources. And that's again in my cooperative planning form. They
fill out that form. Whatever they need, they come in and I'll have it ready for them. Just give me a week
or two in advance.”

How do you ensure that you have appropriate resources for all learners in your school?
“First of all, you have to make sure your online system is correct. So, the first thing I did when I first
started is I did an inventory of every book I had in here, of every piece of equipment, every iPad,
everything, because the first part is organization. You have to know what’s in your catalog if you want to
be able to help people find what they need. So, the first thing I did was inventory. I went in to inventory
everything and so if I can touch it and I know my inventory is correct, then I go back in and change my
system and make my system match what I have as hard copy. You're going to need that when you go
into a new space as the media specialist because everyone makes it their own, and so you're going to be
going into another media specialist’s place, but the teachers still want what they want so you have to
find time in order to find everything. Do inventory and make sure that your catalog matches what you
have on hand. When you do that, then it'll be easier to operate. So, organization is it, really.”

How do you include reading and instructional materials in both print and digital formats that represent
multiple perspectives and varying points of view?
“I have an e-catalog with Junior Library Guild. They make your job so much easier so you don't have to
go out and find what the kids love. They already have people do that; you just have to pay them a little
small fee. So, they send me ten books a month. I have a subscription online with the same books that
they send me. So, what I have in print is now online, and kids can access it without even coming to the
media center. My other print resources, as far as teachers, is the professional library. I try to make sure
everything that my principal gives us a book, because we do book studies, I take my own personal book
and I put it in the professional library so that whatever we've been working on as a faculty, we now have
a copy of that book in the media center. This is just in case you lose yours or someone else wants to
come along, so I try to keep the professional library up to date with what the principal is asking for.”

My biggest takeaway from this interview is something that should probably seem obvious, but for
whatever reason, did not occur to me until this interview: as a media specialist, I’ll be dealing with adults
as much as, if not more than, I will be dealing with children. As says, we teachers are used
to dealing with children all day, every day. Sometimes, I go days without interacting with adults past
pleasantries. It makes sense that said they didn’t teach her that in her media specialist
program. That would certainly take some getting used to. I’m even guilty of being one of those teachers
who often dislike professional development and tend to think that an email would often suffice. So, I
would want to strive to provide professional development programs that are engaging, and that
teachers feel warranted their time and energies. I also found it interesting that different school systems
utilize media specialists differently, so that the job can vary greatly depending on what additional duties
schools and systems place on media specialists, as well as what those institutions value and how they
perceive what the job of a media specialist should entail.