April 4th is National School Librarian Day.  To celebrate, we’ll be posting a series of insights from librarians at some of our adopted schools. Today we’ll start with Brooke Palvado, the librarian at Kate Bond Elementary.

 When I decided to become a Librarian, I got a wide variety of responses from friends and family. I heard “That will be perfect for you!” “How lucky you are to sit and read all day,” and the not so uplifting, “What are you going to do when your job is obsolete due to everything becoming digital?” Regardless of the responses I received, I know one thing to be absolutely true; I want to be a force of encouragement and inspiration in a student’s life, and I most definitely have the power to be that as an Elementary School Librarian.

The Librarian’s role today is a far cry from what it was 20 years ago. Today, my role is not only to fulfill the administrative tasks of running a library, but also to be an educator, instilling a life-long love of reading and learning. Some days can be grueling, but it never fails that when I feel like I am failing or not connecting, a student will tell me how much they love library classes and getting to check out books to read. When I hear these words, I know I chose the right career path for me.

Reading and education will and can change the future of our world for the better, and I am glad that I can to be a part of that change. I feel blessed to have a job that I love with the amazing team at Kate Bond Elementary.

Got a memory of your school librarian? Tell us about it in the comments!