Blog

What do students call you? 

The students call me “Mr. D.”

How long has your library been open? How long have you been working there? 

The Skyline High School library has been a fixture on campus since the school was built, I believe. However, I am told that post-COVID the library had fallen into disarray and then was brought back to functionality by a series of library techs. I begin my role as the first Teacher Librarian that Skyline has had in about 7 years, starting in August 2024.

What is something you’d like folks to know about your library? What makes it unique? 

The Skyline High School Library is a big, beautifully sunlit, gathering space for our school community. Our library is pretty unique in OUSD schools, where many libraries might not have a dedicated library space or they may have limited collections. 

Recently, with the help of several amazing OLC volunteers, we genre-fied our fiction collection. This set the foundation for creating a much more engaging experience for students looking for fiction titles to check out. Genres are a great way to talk to students about their interests and support them with reading for pleasure. I like to think that our library is a space where any student feels welcome to enter, engage with, and find solace in one way or another.

What is your favorite thing about working at Skyline High’s library? How do you see it enriching students’ education? 

There are a lot of things to love about working at a school library, but the best thing will always be interacting with students. From catching them while they peruse the shelves and talking about their reading interests, to helping them with research questions or with finding a non-fiction book to learn more about an issue they are passionate about, it is the students who I ultimately am here to serve. 

That is not to say that I don’t serve the whole school community, because it is the parents who I connected with at Back-To-School Night, and the teachers who I am able to support with lessons on research, media literacy, and using the library that also makes it special to work at a the Skyline High School Library. It is through a strong network of support that students can have a more enriching educational experience.

Why are school libraries important to you?  

I think school libraries are important for society! Access to information is at the heart of librarianship because we know that knowledge is empowering. School libraries are a place for students to engage with different ideas and narratives, and learn how to navigate the information & media landscape. Public schools and the students they serve need more resources, not less, in order to thrive. School librarians are positioned to be one of those resources – providing educational support to complement/enhance learning in the classroom. Additionally, the school library functions as a safe, welcoming, and calm environment for all students and staff.

Tell us about your journey to working at Skyline High. 

I was a kid who loved reading and loved school (except for math, once we got to algebra). My grandma, who was a teacher for over 40 years, read to me a lot as a kid. So when it came time to choose a career path, I chose teaching. The more education I got, the more passionate I became about the value of education for empowering young people. I taught mostly 11th grade English and AP Lang for about 4 years before a severe lack of resources forced me to take a break from classroom teaching to work as a director of tutors at a Sylvan Learning location. In that time, I worked on completing my MLIS degree at San Jose State. As my final few courses came around, it was time to re-enter public education as a school librarian.

I was happy to choose Skyline’s beautiful and diverse campus, and passionate and experienced faculty, as the place to begin my career as a teacher librarian.

What do you remember about your school library?

My memories of the school libraries of my elementary and secondary education primarily revolve around them being a safe place for a socially awkward, and somewhat lonely, kid like myself to get lost in. When I didn’t have a very vibrant social life at school, I found friends in the books that I read. Some books taught me about different cultures and experiences than what I was exposed to in my small town. I believe reading builds empathy. In books, people are nuanced – there are sympathetic villains and problematic heroes. Even the notion of what is “good” and what is “bad” is complicated by a well crafted character or profound message found in a book. These are the kinds of things that I believe my school libraries were instilling in me.

What are some of your favorite books to share with students? 

I always like to begin by asking students about their interests, what they have enjoyed reading in the past, and what they enjoyed about it. Then I am more prepared to give a recommendation that they may take me up on. Of course I also choose which books to display and promote in the library. For those choices, I look primarily for diverse narratives, as well as books with an interesting or unique premise. Personally, I enjoy a lot of science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction – so I like to share recommendations by highlighting the captivating themes, characters, or messages of those books.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I am kind of a nerd. I love anime, video games, TV and movies. I’ve found being plugged into the zeitgeist, in these areas, helps me make connections with students. But I’m not just a nerd, I’m also kind of a grandma. I enjoy getting crafty – which also comes in handy when making the library more colorful, engaging, and easy to navigate/use. I also love to travel and I love food of all kinds. I enjoy cycling or just being in nature whenever I can!

What are YOU reading now?

Right now I am reading through some modern classics like Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower”, that I hadn’t had the chance to read before. Next up on my list are books by Andrew Joseph White. He is one of the only authors that more than one student has told me to read (and get more copies for the library). He is a trans author, and his protagonists are trans as well. His three published books all have a captivating premise, and are in genres like Dystopian, Supernatural, and Mystery.

What do you remember about your school library? 

My memories of the school libraries of my elementary and secondary education primarily revolve around them being a safe place for a socially awkward, and somewhat lonely, kid like myself to get lost in. When I didn’t have a very vibrant social life at school, I found friends in the books that I read. Some books taught me about different cultures and experiences than what I was exposed to in my small town. I believe reading builds empathy. In books, people are nuanced – there are sympathetic villains and problematic heroes. Even the notion of what is “good” and what is “bad” is complicated by a well-crafted character or profound message found in a book. These are the kinds of things that I believe my school libraries instilled in me.