Samantha 0:00
Today’s episode is extra special because I’m joined by someone I had the pleasure of working with for seven years who drastically improved my own teaching practice, Kimberly Dyer. Kimberly is a high school library media specialist and former English teacher in Maryland, and she’s not just a powerhouse educator. She’s also nationally board certified in both school library media and English language arts. Kimberly and I co-created a young adult literature elective together, and I’ve seen firsthand how passionate she is about empowering students. She’s dedicated to helping them make an impact in their school community, whether through planning family literacy events or getting involved in district wide projects. In today’s episode, Kimberly and I want to encourage you to reach out to your own media specialist to collaborate. So we’re peeling back the curtain on the role of the media specialist to show you what’s possible. There are so many ways you can work together to create meaningful literacy experiences for students. So I’m thrilled to welcome her to the podcast today.

Samantha 1:00
Welcome to Creating Joyful Readers, a podcast dedicated to empowering secondary educators with the tools, strategies and inspiration to cultivate a lifelong love of reading in their students. I’m your host, Samantha. Tune in each week as we explore the transformative power of independent reading. Delve into the latest research on literacy, dissect projects that will help your students showcase what they’ve learned in a unique way, and share curated recommendations of young adult novels that will captivate and engage your learners join in as we embark on a journey to create joyful, lifelong readers one book at a time.

Samantha 1:37
All right. Hello, Kimberly, welcome to the podcast.

Kimberly 1:40
Thank you. Hello.

Samantha 1:41
I am so excited to have you here today. I just want to start off by telling people that I’ve known you for almost 10 years. Did you know that?

Kimberly 1:48
I did? Actually, I was thinking about our shared history today.

Samantha 1:53
It has been almost 10 years. That is crazy to me. So you were the media specialist in the school where I used to work, and I knew when I was launching a podcast that you were going to be one of my first guests. So I am so excited that you are here. Can you start off by sharing a bit about your role as a media specialist?

Kimberly 2:12
Sure, I am someone who collaborates regularly with teachers in any content area. I have a flexible schedule as a school librarian. I’m in a 9 through 12 public high school of about 1100 students, and I have been given a lot of freedom professionally to do what I feel is best for the students and the teachers that I’m working with. So that has made it very easy for the years that I have been working. I’m on my 29th year in the district that I’m working in.

Samantha 2:48
That’s amazing.

Kimberly 2:49
It’s been wonderful. It’s it’s allowed me to be curious, and it’s allowed me to experiment, and I’ve learned about all different kinds of content areas and met lots of different people and found myself in some crazy situations sometimes. I have done underwater videography with students in Creek, and

Samantha 3:10
That’s cool.

Kimberly 3:11
I’ve done a lot of crazy stuff like that, because I’ve been willing to experiment with just getting kids to engage with learning.

Samantha 3:18
That’s awesome. Can you break down a little bit, kind of a couple of ways that you work with students, and then maybe a couple of ways that you work with teachers.

Kimberly 3:27
Sure, so students are kind of at the heart of what I do. I have transformed three libraries from traditional libraries into learning commons, and the most recent one that I did that with, I have sort of just ridden the train as far as I could take it. We have a flexible space of about two classrooms and then, like a library collection, and we have a wall that can be closed off to separate and segment a classroom. We have a pretty open area. I have multiple levels of seating and lighting arrangements. I have a lot of activities for kids to engage in, maker space activities, art supplies that are professional art supplies. I have multiple musical instruments that they can play digitally or acoustically. I have 3d printing pens set up in like a 3d printing bar arrangement. I have video games set up. I have puzzle corners and chess sets and board games and jigsaw puzzles and sticker puzzles and origami. It’s it’s kind of, I want it to be a playground for their brains and an opportunity to socialize and engage while they’re at school. We also have a cafe that’s part of the learning commons where kids can get coffee, tea, or hot chocolate, and the funds from that make it possible to have small level contests with cash prizes for kids. So that’s a nice thing to keep everybody participating and engaged.

Samantha 5:15
That sounds so different from the library when I was in high school, so that is so cool. Can you tell me a little bit about the term you just used? Learning Commons is that you know specific term? What does that mean, and how does that apply to the library?

Kimberly 5:30
So Library Learning Commons is an idea of it, it being more of a self directed space where anyone can come and they can pursue their own learning. They can interact with other people socially. They can interact academically with people to collaborate. There are opportunities for leisure. There are opportunities for study. It’s a much more open concept for a school library than a traditional library, and it’s an evolving concept that looks different in different schools based on their needs. There’s a high school around Washington, DC that has a digital music recording studio as part of their learning commons, and they also have a poetry corner with a really active creative writing, specifically poetry club that meets there so and they have a they have a genius bar for the students getting help with their computers and apps on their phones. And so that is tailored to the interests of the student at that school and the resources and space that they have. I’ve tried to put things in my Library Learning Commons that were very purposeful, even though they are non-traditional, perhaps. So when we came back to school after COVID and the pandemic, many students talked to me about feeling anxious and uncomfortable being around other people. Students were clearly, just by their body language, you could see that they weren’t used to being around each other, but they wanted to interact. They just had great awkwardness about it. So I wrote a grant and bought some video game systems for the library. These were the first, this was my first foray into video games in the library. And I set up events after school called games with friends. So students would come in and they would we had four or five video game systems, and they were spread out. I had donated TVs from staff members who had upgraded their televisions, and I bought pizza, and so the students would play video games, and then we would all go to tables in the cafeteria where they had to, like, sit down across from each other and actually have a conversation over the dinner that we had.

Samantha 7:59
Yes, I love that.

Kimberly 8:01
It became such a hit. And it was especially effective for a few boys who were kind of on the fringe socially, you know. So when we would have other events, they were always kind of on the on the outside fringes, wanting to participate, but not knowing how to participate. But the video game was such a draw that they would do a pickup game with whoever else was drawn to the same game, and they ended up, you know, after an hour or two of playing together, fell into conversation over the dinner. So it was really meaningful. And one of the students in particular, is on the autistic spectrum, and I’ve always seen him alone at school, and his mother actually has done a great deal to support his development and encourage him and situate him to be very successful in life. He’s very bright and capable, largely due to her support of him as he’s been growing up, but he fell into a conversation with another boy who had a lot of social awkwardness. And I happen to know the the mother of the other boy, because I’ve worked with her, and so when I noticed they stopped playing the video game, they faced each other, and they had a 45 minute laughing conversation. I let both of the mothers know about it, and said, you know, maybe we need to foster this friendship. And so for both of these boys, they’re each other’s first friend, you know, and they’re 10th graders, so they like all the same things. They’ve been to Boy Scouts. They like to hunt and fish and play video games and hike and so, you know, they’re, they’re doing things socially together now, and it’s, it’s so nice to see that. And one of the boy, the first boy that who’s on the autistic spectrum, has actually started bridging a friendship with another boy in the library, also around a video game, incidentally. So that that’s something that I’ve been concerned about with the video games, because I felt like it made the library look like it might be less purposeful than maybe it would look as a traditional library, but it’s drawing in students who would not be in the library, otherwise, it’s building those those relationships. And then the kids drift, you know, they get done with the video game, or they’ve had enough, or somebody else beat them to the game. And so then they drift over the maker space, you know, and I have a conversation with them, and then they drift over to the coffee bar, and they have a conversation with another kid there, and then they hear about an open mic night that we have, and maybe they come to that with their families. So it’s a very fluid space. I always want there to be room for everybody. So I have a club night once a week, lots of kids are starting clubs. We have a crochet club and a chess club and a Dungeons and Dragons club.

Samantha 11:04
Wow, that’s a lot.

Kimberly 11:06
And they they all need an advisor, so I just said, Okay, Wednesday is club night. I will be here until four o’clock, and you and your whole club can come to the library and meet on Wednesday until four o’clock. And it’s been, it’s just been really great to see how things wash in and wash out. You know, like they cannot get enough of Dungeons and Dragons this year.

Samantha 11:30
Have you noticed that having these different activities and these different things to invite kids into the library has translated into increased interest in books at all?

Kimberly 11:42
It has, yeah, it has in some interesting ways, actually. So one of the things that started to happen, I developed a relationship with English as a Second Language teacher. So I started talking about ways I could support her students with her and they come down for conversational practice with me. My flex schedule makes that possible, and I try to really draw them into the library and its events, because we’re in a school that has a very small population of students learning English, and sometimes they can feel like they’re, you know, lost in the sea of people who are not like them. And so I like to establish that relationship. And what has happened is, the model our District uses is pretty much full immersion. After they take a class, a year long class to transition, and so they’re tasked with reading the novels that the regular students read in English. So I purchased them in their language so that they can’t be assigned it in their language. They have to be assigned the English text. But you know, they can come to the library and check a book out and read it and use it as a support to scaffold it for themselves.

Samantha 13:05
Yeah.

Kimberly 13:05
So make them aware of that. I also try to buy books in each language that students in our building speak. Might not be a huge collection, but it’s it’s a start. I have books on about a first to third grade reading level in Spanish that are high low novels, because some of the students have interrupted literacy and are pretty low even in their their first language just as that’s just as one example. But I’ve also tried to spin and use that for the world language classes so that the students who are taking Spanish two and three have authentic texts that are lengthy to read, because these books are about 100 pages long, they’re high low novels by a wonderful Canadian publisher, Orca. In order to build student stamina as they’re developing their reading skills, we have some manga in Spanish, although that’s very difficult to find and buy. I would I would have more of it if I could find a supplier, but I try to have that range. So we’re actually starting a book club with the multilingual students this year with Shaun Tan’s book The Arrival, which is a wordless graphic novel about an immigrant’s experience. It’s a wonderful book, and it’s it’s not specific to anyone ethnic group. It’s kind of a the art style is sort of dreamy, sepia toned, but there are some unrealistic elements, or non representative elements in it that could make it apply to any culture. So I’m very excited about that. I shared it with the teacher who works with the multilingual learners, and with the supervisor who’s very excited about that possibility as well. The books just came in for that. So that’s a new adventure we’re going to launch into.

Samantha 15:00
I just love all of the creative ways that you’ve drawn people in to the library to get them excited about being in school and finding all of the things that school can offer. When we’re talking about books specifically, I love that you found a book that works for this group of students specifically, and, you know, can help them kind of connect over this shared experience. In general, how do you help students find books that spark their interest? What are some strategies you use in the library?

Kimberly 15:30
It starts with the relationship and getting to know. You start with the name, and then you start to know a little bit about their interests and a little bit about their friend groups. And then once you have a friend group that you’re interacting with, it’s very easy, because someone in that group is an extrovert who is going to give you additional information, even if the book is not forthcoming. Once you you develop that kind of rapport with the group, that’s good, and then just getting to know sort of the the personality or the world view of the student. That might be a strange way to put it, but when you start to know what the student values and cares about and is passionate about, it’s easier to tap into stories that have those elements. Right now I’m working with a student who writes films. That’s how he introduces himself, and he does like he, yeah, legitimately, script writes. He’s not real excited about reading. His films are all focused on social justice issues, and so we got talking about it, and when he had to have a book to read, we started talking. He’s very interested in the civil rights movement. So I got him hooked up with a selection of books. And he picked one that was written by about Malcolm X, by his daughter. And so it depicts him in his like, young years, his formative, not like not formative like child, but like his early manhood and and when he was starting his his life and making decisions for himself and everything. And so he is really engaged with that book, but it took aligning those things. And so as I’m thinking, he’s in our young adult literature elective, and as I’m thinking through genres, I’m going to be looking for books that have a movie making theme, have a photography angle, have a social justice angle, tie into the civil rights movement or other social issues that he is concerned with, as a hook. So like, it has to go beyond Oh, you want a funny book or oh you like a mystery, you know, like you really have to connect the kid pretty deeply with something in the book. I think about diminishing attention span, and I think a real challenge to get kids who are going to persevere in reading, it has to be a meaningful read.

Samantha 18:01
Yeah, I think that’s why it’s so important to really foster relationships with different formatting. When you’re talking about books and audio books and graphic novels and really doing those short sprints of reading in the classroom, even if it’s just that 10 minutes a day, because some people can’t sit down and read for 10 minutes, it’s true, it’s hard for them. So if you’re doing that every day and building that muscle, I really think that’s super helpful for so many kids. Can we circle back for a minute? I think we’ve done such a great job of covering how you support kids in the school, but I don’t think we touched on how you support teachers as well, because that’s another huge part of what you do, and I would definitely love to hear about that.

Kimberly 18:41
I got sidetracked in college by things that interested me. I ended up with two degrees in instruction. So curriculum and instruction is definitely my passion. I am curious about everything in life, and I’m a dabbler and a visionary, and I just fall in love with ideas. So if I were more focused, I would have a doctorate degree by now, but I’m not. So I have multiple degrees and things that interest me. But as a result of that, I like to think that I approach life with a very broad, open, curious mind, and I am always interested in learning whatever content I need to to help people. I like to co plan with people. One of the roles that the American Association of School Librarians defines Librarians by is information specialist. I really like that one. I know how to find things. I know where to find things. I know how to find people and resources and opportunities, and so I like to find and develop resources that for people who probably don’t have time to do that in the in the heat of teaching, sometimes it’s it’s wonderful just to co plan and spin out a unit in terms of, like, the essential understandings and questions and the bones of it, you know?

Samantha 20:07
Yeah, it’s my favorite thing, too. That’s how we found each other. Because I also love that.

Kimberly 20:11
Yes, and we’re good at that together.

Samantha 20:14
For sure.

Kimberly 20:15
I definitely like that. I feel like I’m I have a good eye on how to differentiate and enrich and accommodate. I feel like that’s a specialty that a lot of School Librarians can offer. Those things may be undertapped.

Samantha 20:30
That was really one of the reasons why, when I thought about this podcast, the one of the first things I wanted to do was bring on media specialists. Because I think there’s a disconnect between what people actually think you do and what happens in the library. You have been such, you know, you were such a wild support to me in the classroom, and I didn’t even know that that really existed, or those positions were there, and were a resource to me. And so as either a young teacher, a, you know, a young ELA teacher, or even just an ELA teacher, that maybe is a little burnout, it needs some fresh perspective. What advice would you give to an ELA teacher on how they can work with the media specialist, specifically to improve literacy or to get kids to enjoy reading a little bit more?

Kimberly 21:16
I would say start the conversation. Sometimes, when I think about, you know, like, there’s the way you think about how people perceive you, and there’s the way people actually perceive you. Sometimes I see myself as chasing people down the hall and like tackling them, saying I’ve got this, I have this great resource you should try, but maybe how I’m perceived is more like, maybe somebody’s perception is that a librarian is more on the periphery, and I don’t want to chase people away by being overly enthusiastic about something that they might not be interested in pursuing at the time, but I really think that again, it starts with the relationship and having open conversations. I’ve worked with a lot of people, and I I know how I can and can’t work, and I know that other people have you know those things as well, and if everyone is clear about those things, you can work with anybody you know. You can figure out the where can I help you? We can go as far as you want, or we can just do a very targeted thing. There are teachers who don’t want a co teacher that I plan with all the time, and there are teachers who have things planned to a T who just want, like another person to sit in and help with a specific aspect of it. And so if we start to think very flexibly about our roles, and we communicate about what our needs are and what’s going on, we can find some really novel solutions. And sometimes that starts with a conversation like, you know, I have the student I just can’t reach. Here’s the issue, and then we can start, you know, working on that issue together. But I do think, like it’s important to have really clear communication be specific about what your needs are and your level of willingness to try new things, objectives, resources, unit, materials, time limits. Um, that’s one that I’ve always struggled with, because I can just go forever.

Samantha 23:21
Have you run into a lot of teachers who may just be looking for resources as well. So maybe they don’t want to co plan, but maybe they just come to you and need a book list or how to find something or something like that?

Kimberly 23:34
That is the main way that I collaborate with most people.

Samantha 23:37
And is that the case for most media specialists? Is that, like you know, in your training and in your I know you teach media specialists as well, is that you know, kind of the the purpose or the role of a media specialist, or are you kind of a unicorn?

Kimberly 23:52
I think media specialists are. I think that is kind of the role. It’s that you are, you are reaching out, and you are the cog in the middle of the wheel. You’re connecting things that might not see themselves in connection to each other, but work really well when connected. I think sometimes people who are very shy and quiet end up in the role, but there’s a lot going on under the hood. And so if you’re not being approached by your school librarian, I would really encourage you to approach them. I’ve learned a lot, like in our collaborations, I felt like you injected a level of fun and a level of engagement and whimsy that kind of balanced out some of the let me get philosophical and just geek out on this idea.

Samantha 24:46
But I always needed the how do I increase the rigor? And I knew that about myself later in my career, that I loved the whimsy and the fun, but the rigor was what I needed. And so finding a partner who could look at my lessons and, you know, give me pointers as to where I could, you know, increase the rigor. That was super valuable. And so I want that for other teachers. I want other teachers to reach out and have a resource. And you can’t always find other teachers, because how do you do that when they’re sitting in XYZ classes all day? And, you know, I don’t know, but I hope that a lot of media specialists have flexible enough schedules where they are able to collaborate with other teachers and provide that kind of support, because teaching can be a very lonely career. You can feel like you are all alone, but if you can find a connection, and I’m hoping this podcast very much encourages someone to reach out to their media specialist and find, you know, a way to connect that will just, you know, make their practice that much better. You know, as we kind of get to the end of our time together, here, can you give me a couple of maybe just really cool things you’ve done with other teachers that might inspire someone to reach out and find some ways to collaborate?

Kimberly 25:57
Sure, so one of the things that that is a passion of mine is digital filmmaking. And it is so easy to do today. It is so easy to do with a cellphone and with we video, you know, like you can do anything with next to nothing these days. And so teaching the process of thinking and framing and scripting and storyboarding and how to intentionally plan visually and with the content of film was was something I really enjoyed doing when I was a middle school media specialist, and I made a friend at a environmental camp, and so we co wrote A grant, and we got cameras that could be used for underwater filming, and he had snorkels, and I got a field trip lined up, and we snorkled with these underwater cameras and in a local creek. And then we made and we made environmental videos to help people look beneath the surface in our own backyard and become more aware of the creeks and the the water that is part of their life and that their lives impact. And so that unlocked a boy who was very he tested as very gifted, but he was almost non verbal, and he was really, you could see the struggle in him, and he found his voice in that. And we actually presented it to a local creek association. The students screened their films with them and talked about what they had learned about the environment. And the boy started his own YouTube channel and discovered his voice and majored in communication after that, and he just bloomed. But it took that unlocking to tap into his visual skills, which is what he had, you know, and unlock that. So that’s one of my very favorite projects ever.

Samantha 27:55
That’s such a great story. I love that story. What final piece of advice would you offer to media specialists and ELA teachers looking to foster a lifelong love of reading in their students?

Kimberly 28:05
I would say, just stay in the stream and keep swimming. Look all around. Pay attention to what’s happening in genres and how they’re shifting. Pay attention to trends in YA lit that that are happening. Look for up and coming authors, read the new literature, visit bookstores and browse, listen to the kinds of things students are asking for. Keep an ear to the ground so to speak, right you’re you’re paying attention to what’s happening in the world around you. You’re paying attention to what the kids are thinking about and learning about. Just stay current. Don’t get stuck in what you like. Don’t get stuck in the books you want the kids to like. Don’t get stuck in favorites from the past. Keep swimming and looking around and paying attention to what is happening now.

Samantha 28:56
I love that. I love that answer. We have a quick lightning round before I let you go. And I love this, because I didn’t prep you at all for this. So we are off the cuff at this point. The first question in the lightning round is, what is the book that made you a joyful reader?

Kimberly 29:12
Guts by Gary Paulson. It’s the stories behind his Brian stories, hatchet and Brian Terry and all those things. So it’s the true stories behind it, and it’s his attack by a moose that he survived, but barely, his being pulled off the ice in the Iditarod by a helicopter he and his whole team of dogs. Fantastic writing.

Samantha 29:36
I love that you knew that right away too. You didn’t even have to think about it. What was the last five star book you read?

Kimberly 29:43
We are not free. By Tracy Chee.

Samantha 29:46
Yes, that is a fantastic book, isn’t it?

Kimberly 29:49
Oh, amazing.

Samantha 29:50
This last one. Are you a physical book, e reader or audio book kind of a person?

Kimberly 29:55
It depends.I’m generally an audio book reader in order to keep up, because I can do that while I’m doing dishes or running errands or things, but if I have time and I really want to savor something out by an author that I love, I’m always going to choose a physical book.

Samantha 30:14
Thank you so much, Kimberly for being here with us today, and I’ll drop some links to the show notes if you want to say hi to her or. . . Yeah, that’s it. Thank you so much.

Kimberly 30:25
You’re welcome. It’s been a pleasure.

Kimberly 30:27
That brings us to the end of today’s episode, and I want to thank Kimberly for joining us and sharing her insights. It’s always inspiring to hear about the impact that a dedicated media specialist can have on a school community. I hope this conversation has sparked some ideas on how you can collaborate with your own media specialist to bring new literacy opportunities to your students. If you enjoyed today’s episode, I would be so grateful if you would share it with other teachers who might be looking to connect with their own media specialists. And as always, don’t forget to subscribe for more conversations and ideas that can bring fresh energy to your classroom. Thanks for listening and a big thank you to Kimberly for joining us. Until next time happy reading.

Kimberly 31:07
Thanks for tuning in to creating joyful readers. I hope you found inspiration and practical strategies to ignite a passion for reading in your students. Remember every book we introduce and every reading experience we foster can transform lives and help students become lifelong readers. Follow me on social media at Samantha in secondary for more tips book recommendations and to connect with a community of educators dedicated to making reading a joyful journey. Until next time happy reading.