The Librarian Influencer of the Week is Dr. Jen Sturge. Jen worked as a Maryland elementary librarian and then moved to the central office to support school libraries for the past 6 years. Jenn was one of the SLJ Movers and Shakers this year! Her district won the National School Library of the Year Award from AASL! Click here to listen now!
Here are some librarian thoughts Jen shared:
You don’t have to do everything at once. Teaching and interacting with the students is the most important thing you can do - focus on that first - the rest will fall into place eventually.
The pandemic showed teachers and administrators that they really needed librarians and that librarians have the knowledge to hold things together - from providing PD on databases and platforms to knowing what was going to work for teachers.
The pandemic helped Jen realize how fast she was moving - the pandemic made her slow down a little and realize she didn’t have to do everything all the time or run at 110% all the time.
Jen is passionate about collection development as it pertains to diversity and equity of titles in the library.
She firmly believes all children should feel welcomed, see themselves, and see each other in books.
She encourages librarians to use the tools their circulation system provides to start looking at the diversity of books in their library. Look at age and circulation. Start small.
Jen earned her doctorate in April of 2021. Her research was on collection development of LGBT+ materials and the library environment and how that influences collection.
You can connect with Jen Sturge at:
Twitter: @sturgej
Facebook: facebook.com/jenniferforringersturge
Knowledge Quest author link: https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/author/jstruge/
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