Librarians are Community Builders: with Kim Johnson

The Librarian Influencer of the Week is Kim Johnson a high school librarian in Maryland where she is also active in her state library association Maryland Association of School Librarians. Listen to her interview here: http://laurasheneman.libsyn.com/librarians-are-community-builders-with-kim-johnson

In this podcast, Kim does a wonderful job describing her first year in the school library.

• Having a mentor and working closely with her clerk made a big difference for her

• Focus on relationships because you are really building your clientele at the high school level since you are not part of a specials rotation like elementary library time often is.

• Don’t feel like you have to do trendy things like Makerspaces. Find your own passion within the school librarian space!

Here are some Librarian Influencer strategies Kim shared:

• Community = shared experiences and a sense of belonging.

• Interactive displays and spaces - the space becomes their own and evolves over time (whiteboard walls, puzzles, post - its, thank a teacher/ thank a student - shared by the librarians at Hillcrest High School @readonthehill on Instagram)

• Human Library, Kim has plans for the Longest Table

• Creating a community with staff - school librarianship can be alienating, but you are a connector between departments.

• We are outreach connectors too - the public library, local colleges, local businesses (experiences passes)

• Book recommendation: Wait, Rest, Pause: Dormancy in Nature by Marcie Flinchum

You can follow Librarian Influencer Kim Johnson at:

• Twitter: @kapjohnson

• Instagram: @whs_owls_library

• Email: kajohns@carrollk12.org

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