Celebrating National Library Week

In honor of National Library Week, I’d like to take a moment to thank my school’s librarian, Mrs. Dianne Hebert. Mrs. Hebert was a retired, kindergarten teacher working as a tutor at my school when the librarian position became open. It was probably the worst possible time to take over this position as our library was under renovation. Many of our books had been placed in storage while the rest had been moved to a small portable. Due to the size of the portable, she had to visit classrooms on a cart. While you can imagine the challenges that she faced, Mrs. Hebert always had a smiling face and an “I’ve got this” attitude.

When the renovations were complete, Mrs. Hebert worked long hours unpacking and organizing our library. The library is now a beautiful and relaxing space that calls to all students, parents, and teachers. Before school and during recess, you will find many students using their free time to peruse the books and resources. During her lessons, the students act out stories, sing songs, and take part in detailed discussions that instill a love of reading into our students.

Not only is Mrs. Hebert a phenomenal librarian, she is an amazing coworker. Mrs. Hebert knows that I love to incorporate stories into my lessons. She will bring me books that she believes would be great for me to use in music. Thanks to her ingenuity my third grade students have become big fans of Trombone Shorty after reading his biography. I also have the book Drum Dream Girl sitting on my desk waiting for me to devise a way to integrate drumming into the story.

I believe the role of a school librarian is extremely vital. Fabulous librarians like Mrs. Hebert help children discover the magic of books while sharing their resourcefulness with teachers throughout the school. Thank you to Mrs. Hebert and all of the school librarians for giving children the keys to a lifetime of reading adventures! Have you thanked your school librarian this week?