The Librarian Influencer of the Week is Ellen Stolarski, a middle school librarian from Pennsylvania with 8 years of library experience. You can listen to her interview at http://laurasheneman.libsyn.com/you-are-there-to-make-their-life-easier-with-ellen-stolarski.
In this podcast, Ellen shares about some mentoring experience she had that helped her become a better librarian. She also describes the process of becoming a certified librarian in the state of Pennsylvania.
Here are a couple of Librarian Influencer strategies Ellen shared:
She remembers early on her feelings of professional loneliness. Figure out who can be your safe person on campus to vent to.
Use your state organization and social media to help you build connections.
Someone once recommended to her to focus on the teachers as her primary focus. They will be the ones to provide access to the students since she is on a flexible schedule.
She knows her principal’s vision and this helps her principal approach her to help on projects.
You are a resource and you are there to make their life easier.
Leverage your victories to help build other people’s trust in you.
Take leaps of faith! Get out and meet new librarians. Participate in a Twitter chat like #PALibChat.
You can follow Librarian Influencer Ellen Stolarski at:
Twitter: @emstolar https://twitter.com/emstolar
School Twitter: https://twitter.com/SMAMSlibrary
School Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smamslibrary/