Branching Out Beyond Borders

Amy Brownlee

2026-01-07 09:29 AM

Over the past year, I challenged myself to step out of my comfort zone and expand my learning network "beyond borders." For me, that means beyond the borders of my state, my country, and my comfortable sphere of libraries and librarians. To that end, last summer I traveled to Germany on a teacher study trip [...]

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Lesson Spark: Cityscapes for Kindergarten

Carolyn Vibbert

2026-01-05 10:02 AM

I love the sparks that brightly light and inspire me to create units I will love as much as my learners will. I was an elementary librarian for almost 20 years so my work is primarily for K-5. As with any great lesson, it must be created for a specific group of learners. When I [...]

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Picture Books and Other Living Things: Growing Stories through Collaboration

Zoë Armstrong

2025-12-23 09:30 AM

I wrote The Great Oak Tree very slowly, in my car, beneath a line of trees. We had recently moved from the South Coast of England to a northern city in the hills, full of woods and parks. At home, the words would not come, so I kept showing up at that quiet spot on [...]

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Grief and Growth at Your Local Library: How Ofrendas Offer a Space for Community Healing

Jolene Gutiérrez

2025-12-19 03:23 PM

When my dad died suddenly on November 1, 2019, I felt alone. I notified friends and family. I handled the funeral arrangements. And I tried to find a way to grieve. At home, our family added my dad's photos to our ofrenda (altar with offerings). We kept the ofrenda up after Día de Muertos. Sharing [...]

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The Power of Quiet Leadership

Amanda Galliton

2025-12-16 02:14 PM

Sometimes the strongest leaders are the ones you barely notice at first. I'm quiet until you get to know me. I'm an observer. I notice things people don't always say out loud, and I pay attention to the small moments happening around me. Over time, I've realized that this is also how I lead. When [...]

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Finding the Joy and the Gratitude as We Close One Chapter and Open Another

Jennifer Sturge

2025-12-15 09:45 AM

I'm not sure how it got to be December of 2025. It's been a whirlwind of a year. It was my second year being full time in higher education, I was co-chair of the national conference, and I started my term as co-chair of the 2025-2026 Standards Committee.  And in there, my youngest graduated from [...]

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Bringing Joy to the Library

Karin Greenberg

2025-12-11 10:34 AM

  Joy to the Book World Books bring me joy. Give me a wall of bookshelves filled with colorful spines and I feel the stress melt away. Can teenagers relate? From my years in the library, I'd say only a handful. I think we can work to change that. Throughout the school year I do [...]

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