Spring Branch ISD Featured News

Among the Spring Branch ISD’s 2021 campus Teachers of the Year are two high school librarians who love their work and have been recognized by their peers for excellent service to Every Child: Laura Fuller at Stratford High School and Shelby Slay at Memorial High School.

During National Library Week, read insights about the joys of their careers as librarians, how they have adapted to the physical and technological changes in their libraries, and the importance of equipping students to be informed and discerning readers. 

What is the most rewarding part of being a librarian?

Fuller: Being able to interact with lots of different people in a wide variety of ways. It’s very fulfilling to take time when someone needs help and grow relationships with library patrons. 

Slay: When a student realizes again that they love reading. When I am able to pair students with titles that speak to them, I help them find that love again.

How have you used technology to expand the role of the library on campus?

Fuller: Technology was a HUGE part of the school year in 2020. I worked with all librarians last semester to build an itslearning course to be a go-to spot for all students needing help. At Stratford, we implemented a contactless book check out method. I visited classrooms to show in-person and virtual students how everyone could still check out books with Sora, a program SBISD has for students to check out e-books and audio books.

Slay: I have worked with our technology team to provide tech support and guidance for students. I also have collaborated with my English teachers to introduce Sora to our students.  We went from 127 Sora checkouts during all of 2019 to 4,700-plus checkouts this school year! I have also been building our social media presence (@MHSLibrary024) and started a #MHSReads campaign.

What does the library of the future look like, in your opinion?

Fuller: Future libraries are places to go for collaboration and exploration. Stratford’s library is a large space that provides multiple areas for a variety of activities to do individually, with friends or friends-in-the-making! When patrons have creative control of the space they work in, they are happier, more productive and innovative. 

Slay: Long gone are the days of a library only being a place to read a book or study. With the introduction of emerging technologies in our libraries, such as 3D printers, Virtual Reality (VR) machines and makerspaces, we are now places where students come to explore and grow as learners while also creating their future.

Why is it important for students to be informed readers?

Fuller: It can be very tricky to be able to tell what quality information is and what is not. I help students develop literacy skills by conducting lessons about the correct ways to research, using fact-checked, reliable research databases, and providing them tools to be informed readers and independent thinkers. 

Slay: We must ensure our students are engaged readers that can decode and synthesize information from various sources to gain knowledge and develop higher-level thinking skills.

Story time! Recall an instance of helping a student when you thought, “THIS is why I am a librarian.”

Fuller: This year the Stratford Beyond the Books Society was formed. I had a handful of students I saw all the time that came in to talk books. We started meeting during Spartan Time and things have blossomed from there. Each student in the group has come to me outside of club to tell me how much they enjoyed something—a book, discussion, our t-shirts, or if they could bring someone to the group. This is my “why” for being a librarian.  Forging reading relationships with these members has been rejuvenating in a time that is dominated by uncertainty. In a year when it’s easy to get bogged down in the negatives, these students have made it exciting to come to work. The club has become something we all look forward to every week. This was never more obvious to me than during finals. I had become the location and designee for organizing finals and didn’t have time for a meeting. The students were so sad to miss they held their own meeting in the library! I was proud of them for being motivated to meet, even without me. This is what these groups are all about—learning to find a passion and follow it.

Slay: During my first year as a librarian, I had a student come in from his English IV class to find a book because his teacher told him he “had to have one.” The student then proceeded to tell me to just pick something for him because he wasn’t going to read it anyways. We sat and talked for a bit, and I found out that he hadn’t finished a single book since second grade. After speaking, I asked him if he would try reading just 30 pages of a book for me. He agreed, and I handed him a copy of All American Boys by Jason Reynolds. Three days later, he was back. He had read his 30 pages and then 300 more and told me he felt like he could see himself in the book. By the end of the year, he had read every Jason Reynolds title we owned and was making his way through various other authors I introduced him to along the way. He’s long since graduated, but every now and then, I’ll get an email from him asking if I’ve read anything good lately . . . and THIS is why I’m a librarian.

Submitted by Becky Wuerth, SBISD Communications
becky.wuerth@springbranchisd.com