The Librarian Influencer of the Week is New York librarian Arlene Laverde! She is a high school librarian and the former president of the New York City School Library Association. Arlene is also president elect for New York Library Association. Click here to listen now!
Here are some librarian influencer tips Arlene shared:
Dream big, but take baby steps. You will accomplish a lot in your first year. Give yourself freedom to try things.
Get to know yourself as a librarian and your community your first year.
Get acclimated to your school and get to know what is important at that school.
Friend the new teachers on campus.
Create a safe space as your students and staff head back to campus this year.
The pandemic showed Arlene how much people need time to just be together. Make time for this with students and teachers when you start back to school.
Arlene believes school librarians should be involved in advocacy.
Get involved in your local and state library association.
Arlene reaches out to politicians and government officials sharing about her role as a librarian.
Her goal is to re-educate the public about the role school librarians play.
You can advocate for yourself without being a troublemaker.
When you ask your principal for something, ask with purpose. Have the evidence to back up your requests. They might say no today, but come back in a future week because they have funding that needs to be spent.
You can connect with Arlene Laverde at:
Twitter: @THHSLibrary
Consider presenting (facilitating) at the Edcamp Cardigan Camp On November 13th. This is a virtual, international edcamp for librarians. Read more and apply here: https://edcampcardigancamp.weebly.com/
Gather some friends and participate as a small group at the Edcamp Cardigan Camp. You can host a satellite site. Read more and apply here: https://edcampcardigancamp.weebly.com/
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