By: Alaysia Curry and Daylun Armstrong
April 19, 2022
In the Brooklyn City School District, the library is about much more than just checking out books. It is a place where people make connections, have fun, expand their knowledge, and learn skills that will help them throughout their everyday lives. Without the hard work and dedication of Mrs. Wendy Smith (District Media Specialist) and Mrs. Kimberly Daerr (District Media Assistant), the library would not be where it is today.
The library offers an array of different programs and activities for every student to enjoy, such as One Author One School. This is a program (since 2017) that focuses on K-7 students where each student gets a variety of books by an author who writes for different grade levels. The goal of this program is for kids to enjoy reading and having others read to them.
Book fairs also play an important role in the library. Every year, the library hosts two scholastic books fairs that directly support the library and classroom teachers’ libraries, along with providing books for Right To Read Week.
Right To Read Week is an entire week in March that is dedicated to literacy with different, daily activities. Some of the activities include organizing guest readers such as community members, teachers, and staff who go into classrooms and read a plethora of different books to K-7 students.
Along with this, there is also Literacy Night. This is a night where the community comes in and celebrates reading; the PTA provides dinner, entertainment, as well as a free book giveaway, which the library directly supports. Teachers volunteer to set up stations with crafts or games, all of which celebrate and support the importance of reading.
To keep such an enjoyable environment, the library encourages students to read by doing book talks, book trailers, monthly themes, and purchasing new and interesting books for all grade levels with a wide-range of genres and topics for all to enjoy.
Mrs. Smith also teaches classes that focus on technology and library skills. All students learn on a google format with a range of different projects depending on their grade level.
They learn basic library skills such as how to look for a book, the different genres to find the right fit book for them, understanding the different parts of a book, researching/finding credible information, along with digital citizenship lessons that teach students how to be safe on the Internet and what you should and should not post, being nice to others, as well as creating strong passwords and making sure that your information is safe.
Each week rotates between teaching library skills and technology. Students also enjoy story time with Mrs. Smith as she reads a new book for each theme of every month.
The library has always worked to be an inclusive environment for all students making sure to discuss authors and provide books that highlight the importance of representation everyday of the year. The library is also a welcoming and comforting place where students go to expand their knowledge, dive into a new book, and have great conversations.
Thank you Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Daerr for all that you do to make the library what it is today!
THE RETURN OF THE EYE 