What’s in a book? Librarians look inside the cover

Story and Photos By Christine Bordelon, Clarion Herald

The Greater New Orleans School Librarians Conference held Oct. 19 was a day for local librarians to learn how to enhance their libraries and expand what they offer students in elementary, middle and high schools in New Orleans.

More than 80 school librarians, most from the Archdiocese of New Orleans, attended several breakout sessions that touted what’s new in children’s and young adult literature. Suggestions included the popular books to stock school libraries; how to guide students to books that will pique their interests to develop a love for reading; and how to effectively use computers to find resources, especially at the high school level, to introduce college-level content to research properly.

Dr. Pat Austin discussed a few of her favorite books she uses with students, including books about workers’ rights and an island-born student and her traditions. She encouraged librarians to use the website class.org to view a current book list.

“A lot of people are afraid of tough topics,” she said. “But, you just have to (address them).”

Books can start conversations

Austin also explained how teachers can take a story topic and dive deeper into the subject matter to create rich conversations with students. A session in large-print books explored the benefits for various students.

“Struggling students love the format of large print and books,” said presenter Jennifer Shafer. “One of the beauties of education is we all have to teach the same things, but how we go about it is up to us.”

She refuted the notion that technology and e-books trump “the print stuff.” While students enjoy reading e-books, eye strain results within 1 1/2 to two hours, so it’s not always the best solution, she said, adding how some schools she knows dumped their hard-copy editions in favor of e-books and returned to books.

A panel discussion moderated by Susan Gauthier, library services director for East Baton Rouge Public Schools, featured panelists from Follett Book Fairs, Scholastic and Cavalier House Books, who explained how their company has successful book fairs.

The conference, hosted at Metairie Park Country Day in Metairie, featured keynote speaker Raymond Arroyo, a New York Times bestselling author, EWTN founding news director, managing editor and lead anchor of EWTN News, discussing “Why Fiction Matters” and how a story well-told can reshape minds and hearts and remake the future. He introduced and signed his most recent addition to his Will Wilder young adult book series.

What are librarians doing?

Elementary and high school librarians from Archbishop Chapelle, Archbishop Hannan, Brother Martin, Cabrini, Holy Name of Jesus, Holy Cross, Jesuit, Mary Queen of Peace, Mount Carmel, St. Angela Merici, St. Augustine, St. Benilde, St. Charles Borromeo, St. Christopher, St. Edward the Confessor, St. Louis King of France, St. Mary’s Dominican, St. Katharine Drexel, St. Philip Neri, St. Rosalie and St. Scholastica were among the attendees.

“Our main focus today is to build a community among school librarians and fellowship and offer professional development focused particularly on school librarians,” said Elisa Huber of St. Benilde School in Metairie, vice president of the Greater New Orleans chapter of the Catholic Library Association (GNO/CLA), the event’s sponsor.

GNO/CLA is celebrating its 58th year of establishment. The local mission follows the national goal to “provide leadership for professional development, coordinate the exchange of ideas, offer spiritual support, promote Catholic and ecumenical literature, and to foster community among those who seek, serve, preserve and share the word in all its forms,” said president Terry Young.

Huber and other librarians discussed their passion for building relationships with students and discovering their interests to encourage reading. Most librarians see technology and hard copy books as going hand in hand as opposed to it being an either-or situation.

“We have to teach our babies how to navigate information that’s digital or printed,” Huber said. “Children still love to check out books in the library.”

Ann Schmitt, St. Edward the Confessor’s librarian, said “people don’t understand how librarians are trained to build curated collections to strengthen a school’s curriculum and to build the students’ interest.”

She does what she calls “Book Talks,” where she selects books from a new shipment that arrives at school and gives a quick synopsis of each book (without a spoiler). Schmitt mentioned how rewarding it is when a student returns to the library to tell her how much they enjoyed reading a book she recommended.

“It’s troubling to see libraries closing,” Schmidt says. “For us, (the library) is the hub. We talk to students about what they are interested in and keep trying (to get them interested in reading).”

Archbishop Chapelle librarian Tihana Zschiesche said many times students associate their computer with work, “so the hard copy (of a book) is a pleasure.” She moderates the Chapters with Chipmunks Club at Chapelle and has 30 members reading a book a month for fun. There also are “Book Buddies” at Chapelle, which Zschiesche equates to speed dating for books. It’s student-led and student-driven, with students reading out loud and the rest of the class listening.

“Once they read a few pages, it captures them,” she said. “I tell them, ‘When you leave Chapelle, I want you to be lifelong readers.’ That’s what this is all about.”

For details on the association, go to https://gnocla19.weebly.com/

Christine Bordelon can be reached at cbordelon@clarionherald.org.