Hello World!

School Librarian = Scholarly Brio

It also equals Ahoy Rib Scroll, All Boorish Cry, Rich Loyal Bros and O Shrilly Cobra. That's the beauty of language, right down to the letters. As a TLIT (teacher-librarian-in-training, not to be confused with PIMP) I can't get enough. I spent the last year researching and emotionally investing in opening a children's bookstore. However, I soon discovered that my inner businesswoman skipped town around the time my Playskool cash register came up short a few plastic coins. I'm not one for bottom lines and gimmicks-turned-profits. But I gotta' have the books and kids. I am so lucky to have found school librarianship along the way. I want to be a Teacher Librarian, an Information Specialist, a School Library Media Specialist. Whatever. Just gimme' a space to interact with kids and teachers and information and literature. Most importantly literature. I'm all about embracing technology, but I believe in the wonder of storytelling. I believe in that connection to the heart and soul and its role in promoting lifelong learning. I believe we have a responsibility to ensure a student's desire to explore and discover is what guides learning. I believe I just said "we" and presumed myself into the profession. :)

So, here I am. My name is Bryn (rhymes with friend). I just finished my M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instructional Leadership and, because I like torture, am beginning an M.S. Information Sciences degree this fall. I will be following the School Library Media Specialist track and will be taking all my courses online. As Disney's Aladdin says, "It's a whole new world."

Between LiveJournal and MySpace I've maintained a points of professional interest/what am I doing with my life? blog for, geez, 3-4 years. I love blogging. I love reading them, writing them, commenting on them. I prefer those who update regularly, who link to fascinating articles, who stir the pot, who ask amazing questions, who stand their ground and, most of all, who would blog even if no one were around to read (a blogger writes an entry and no one reads it, was it really posted?)

This is how I want to contribute to my new world. I think it'd be pretty cool to see an evolution through pre-library school, coursework, post- and hopefully continued in my own library position. What are my initial thoughts and biases? What will I learn in school? What will happen in our field between now and then? What does it mean to be a librarian? How does this profession keep up with itself? Will I ever post on LM_NET? Am I on Ning just to be cool? What role does children's literature play in information literacy curriculum standards? Will school librarianship ever agree on a universal job description? Should it?

Things to look forward to:
* I really, really want to try to review a book a day - children's, YA, whatever - like I said, I want to keep literature at the heart of what I do.
* Links to what's going on in our world - librarian,kidlit or otherwise
* Thoughts/responses to my M.S. coursework - articles, discussions, listservs (school starts Aug. 22!)

School Librarian = Scholarly Brio
Scholarly, like learning and stuff.
Brio, n. Vigor; vivacity: “She tells their story with brio and a mixture of sympathy and tart insight” (Michiko Kakutani).