Hello from Pittsburgh!

Hello, fellow AISLers!  My name is Lindsey Myers, and I am excited to begin blogging for AISL.  After attending the conference for the first time last April and learning from and collaborating with other amazing independent school librarians, I knew that I wanted to become more involved in the organization. My first post will be an introduction, and include upcoming ideas and projects that I will be sharing in the next few months.

I spent my first four years as a public school librarian in a medium-sized (about 1500 students) suburban high school. While I enjoyed the work and my coworkers, I was intrigued when the opportunity arose to apply at a local independent coed boarding and day school, Shady Side Academy Senior School. Shady Side offered the opportunity to explore a different educational setting, and challenge myself in various ways. I began my career here in the fall of 2015.

Shady Side is a wonderful place to work. Not only do I have amazingly talented colleagues who are open to collaborating with the library, but I also find myself with more time to talk with and assist students on a one-on-one basis. Our library collaborates closely with different departments to develop research skills, promote independent reading, and generally offer a welcoming and supportive environment to all members of our community.

One goal when writing this blog is to spend more time reflecting on the various projects I have completed, and discover ways to improve for the future. I welcome your constructive feedback, and look forward to learning from all of you!

Upcoming Posts*:

  • Book Tasting- not just for kids!
  • Adventures in Book Club
  • Collaborating with your local public library
  • Digital Citizenship PSAs

*Full disclosure: I am pregnant and due in late March, so some of my posts will be from projects earlier in the year. These are yearly projects, so again,  I welcome your feedback!

A second goal is to share and receive more book recommendations. Falling into a new story is absolutely what keeps me going when times get stressed/busy/etc. Some of my posts will highlight some of the best books I have read recently (and, if I have strong negative feelings about a title, possibly those as well!). I just finished The Library Book by Susan Orlean, and I have to admit that I was captivated from page 1. She begins the story describing trips to the library with her mother, which brought me back to my own childhood. I cannot wait to repeat this ritual with my own child. And, I want to plan a trip to see the beautiful Central branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. Last year, my husband and I made a trip to Cleveland, OH to see the downtown Heinen’s grocery store after reading Grocery: the buying and selling of food in America by Mark Ruhlman. This title will make your weekly (daily?) trips to the grocery store much more enlightening. I am trying to convince my husband that we should make a yearly event of visiting places we read about in books! Since we have friends that just moved to LA, that trip might be an easy sell for this coming summer…

Have you read anything amazing lately? Please share in the comments! I look forward to learning from, and collaborating with you, in the posts to come.


3 thoughts on “Hello from Pittsburgh!

  1. Congratulations on your new blog! Your vacation ideas sound fun. I go on a library tour every year to see libraries in Europe. This April, I’ll go to Portugal. Last year my husband and I went to Germany. Before that it was Spain and Italy. Amazing libraries and other librarians were so fun.

    I just finished the book, MAID. Have mixed feelings. She shows the really dark side of being a single parent, but it really got kind of repetitive and self pitying. My favorite books this month have been the “Dark Materials” series by Phillip Pullman. I never thought I’d like fantasy writing, but I LOVED those books.

    Keep your blogs coming!

  2. Thank you for your blog post. Two books that I have read in the past sixth months that I really loved were: Educated by Tara Westover and The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne. Very different books but both exceptionally well-written, intense, intelligent, challenging and ultimately joyful.

  3. The two most recent books that kept me completely engrossed were Where the Crawdads Sing and Florida. Happy reading!

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