Librarians Impact the Learning of Every Student: with Tom Bober
The Librarian Influencer of the Week is Tom Bober. Tom works at an elementary library outside of St. Louis, Missouri. He also serves as the district level library coordinator. Click here to listen now.
Here are some key ideas Tom shared:
Don’t take everything on at once.
Have deeper conversations with classroom teachers about what they see the library role as. This will help you move the library in the direction you want it to go.
When teachers saw him teach during his fixed schedule, they built up trust in him as an instructional partner.
As a district his team evaluated what went well during the pandemic so they could continue those things. He shares a couple of these items during the interview.
Tom finds PLN connections primarily online.
Tom served as a teacher in residence at the Library of Congress. This led to many professional opportunities:
This experience led to him writing Knowledge Quest articles about primary sources, historical documents, and student learning.https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/author/tbober/
Tom has written 2 books about primary sources and news literacy. https://www.amazon.com/Tom-Bober/e/B08TW1MSQC?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1648122190&sr=8-1
He also started a podcast about the use of primary sources in education. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-primary-source-podcast/id1530140365
You can connect with Tom Bober at:
Twitter: @CaptainLibrary
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