The Librarian Influencers of the Week are the Calvert County Public Schools Librarians who were awarded the National School Library of the Year Award (NSLPY) last year. Dr. Jennifer Sturge is the district Teacher Specialist for School Libraries and Digital Learning. Her fantastic library team includes: Christopher Angus, Brandon Aris, Joe Embrey, Mary Brooke Fitzpatrick, Casey Grenier, Kristin Halstead, Wendy Palensky, Crystal Hill, Khristi Jenkins, Anne Jones, Michelle Kingsbury, Susan Lusby, Lauren Lynn, Donna Mignardi, Kathleen Music, Lea Nerby, Theresa Remington, Melaney Sanchez, Mark Taeschner, Mari Joel Verlich, Sally Wolfe, and Rachael Younkers. Click here to listen now!
Dr. Jen Sturge shared that applying for the NSLPY award was part of her 5 year plan to highlight the great work they had been doing. The librarians shared how completing the application process built a strong sense of family among the group of librarians and even energized their individual work.
Dr. Jen’s goal was to make the libraries more visible and to showcase the importance of what librarians do. She set the goal to be ready in 3 years to start the district application for the NSLPY award packet. They used LibGuides to gather documentation. The librarians were able to divide and conquer the application and use their areas of strength to gather all the documentation.
The application process helped them see some of the unique things they each bring to their library programs. As well, it was a nice pat on the back to hear the administrators and students speak up about the great things they are doing as librarians. There were many personal and collective benefits received
You can connect with the Calvert County Public School Librarians:
Twitter: @sturgej, @casey_grenier, @DMignardi
Portfolio: https://calvertnet.libguides.com/sls
Next year’s National School Library of the Year Award application will open September 1, 2022 and closes on January 1, 2023. Study the rubric and application to better understand the components being asked for. Recipients are notified in the spring.
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