Summer PD Inspires Upper School Library Initiatives

By Lindsey Kundel, Director of Communications 

Although summer has long-since passed, many of our employees are working on projects from learning they attained over the summer. 

One such employee is Cassy Lee, upper school librarian, who attended the American Library Association's annual conference in Washington, D.C. last June. This was the first time the conference was held in-person since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Ms. Lee says that she enjoyed being around her librarian colleagues and authors in-person again. "It brought a huge burst of rejuvenating energy and passion for my work," said Lee. 

But Lee didn't just attend the conference as a lifelong learner; she also presented on a project that won the 2020 AASL Roald Dahl's Miss Honey Social Justice Award, an award that is given each year in recognition of a collaboratively designed lesson, event, or course of study on social justice using school library resources. 

"The Power Project plants the seeds for students to recognize they can make change on issues that matter to them," said Lee. "In my session, I went over the collaborative process and resources and tools used to make this project from my last school an effective and powerful experience for the students. I hope attendees came away equipped to design a project that builds agency for their students to engage in social justice work in their communities." 

Lee says that she looks forward to doing more of that work here at TAS with faculty and students. 

"I love to attend this conference to stay on top of trends in the field as it’s the largest conference of its kind," said Lee. "There are strands for public, academic, and school libraries and always so much to choose from. From learning what new books are out to hearing what my colleagues are thinking and talking about helps me stay informed and engaged in my profession." 

So what were the biggest takeaways for Lee? 

First, Lee said that one major highlight was that she was able to explore the Library of Congress. 

"I attended a full-day workshop on using the Library of Congress’ resources and learned to better navigate the collection of the largest library in the world," said Lee. "I can’t wait to encourage students to use their extensive resources, especially just knowing that they can always Ask a Librarian!" 

Another major highlight were the sessions that she attended on information literacy instruction.  

"I attended various sessions on project-based collaboration, citations, and critical information literacy skills," said Lee. "TAS’s strategic plan emphasizes the need to systematically develop our students’ information literacy and critical thinking skills and is in year 2 of committee work to see where this is already happening well and where we can approve and align this work across divisions. I came away from these sessions with many actionable ideas I can implement in both my Upper School Library instruction and the Information Literacy Committee’s work this year." 

Last, but certainly not least, Lee said that the trip was a huge inspiration for her as she looks forward to preparing for the remodel of the Upper School's Information Commons. 

"I attended a tour of DC area independent school libraries as well as a session called Designing Spaces for DEIA and was so inspired," said Lee. "One, it got me thinking about accessibility and how it could be improved in the US Information Commons, but also was introduced to the concept of architecture as healing and that this could be a space that offers respite from anxiety. I got fantastic design process ideas I hope to implement as I work on a plan to update the space to better serve our students."