The Librarian Influencer of the Week is Rachel Grover. Rachel is a former teacher who became a school librarian. She works in a middle school library in northern Virginia. Click here to listen now!
Here are some librarian influencer tips Rachel shared:
Keep being who you want to be and be awesome!
The sky's the limit for developing yourself professionally.
Write grants. She received a grant to create a 3rd maker space for her library called the Inspiration Studio. It will have green screen supplies, graphic design materials, and some other surprises.
She applauds librarians for reinventing their roles from face to face services to virtual and hybrid models.
She hopes we all take time to reflect and determine which role reinventions we might keep once we are back in a face to face setting. In her case, she spent time thinking about her “why”. This reflection has regrounded her and made her rethink what she does as a librarian.
Rachel wants to encourage you to start making connections in Libraryland.
These connections can help you fight imposter syndrome.
You’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with. Surround yourself with big thinkers.
Join your state school library association and AASL. You can find your state chapter here: AASL Chapter Directory
Read the Knowledge Quest blog. You can read daily blog posts and follow them on social media.
Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Write your own blog.
Share what you're doing on a librarian social media account. Keep your professional account separate from your personal one.
You can connect with Rachel Grover at:
Twitter: @rgrov1013
Instagram: rrmslibrary
Knowledge Quest Blog: https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/author/rachgrover/
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