Friday, August 21, 2015

Stratford High Teacher-Librarian Co-Authors Professional Article


Stratford High School librarian and teacher Lisa Stultz has co-written a professional article about updating secondary school libraries to attract modern teens and promote personal reading.

Talk about summer development and growth! Teacher-Librarian Lisa Stultz of Stratford High School became a professional library journal writer during the past few months.

A three-page article co-written by Ms. Stultz and librarian Charla Hollingsworth of Alief ISD was published recently in VOYA, a leading journal in the youth services librarianship field.

The article, titled “Ten Ways to Transform 21st Century Libraries,” appears in the August 2015 edition of Voya, recognized as one of the top library publications in the nation. It includes photographs from the TeenBookCon 2015 gathering, which Stultz co-chairs, and an author book signing event held at Blue Willow Bookshop, a longtime district and high school partner on Memorial Drive.

Stultz begins her second year at Stratford High this month. She earned her masters of library and information science degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in English through the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, La.

Charla Hollingsworth has worked in Alief ISD for 17 years, and currently works at the Hastings Ninth-Grade Center.

Voya editors made the librarians’ day when they learned that their article idea had won approval. “I was thrilled to hear that they were interested in the ideas we had submitted, and that we had gained permission to write the article,” Stultz said.

“Students in the twenty-first century don’t frequent libraries unless the libraries are inviting and cater to the needs of the community,” Stultz and Hollingsworth assert in their opening sentence and paragraph.

“This predicament occurs even more in urban environments where many readers struggle with comprehension, see reading as a task they are forced to do for tests, and rarely, if ever, do on their own. After inheriting little used libraries, we saw a need for transformation. By using the strategies outlined below, we have seen marked increases in the numbers of students who frequent the library on a daily basis and the numbers of books checked out,” the opening article also states.

The article goes on to highlight key points that include the following headlines:
  • Be a Book Whisperer
  • Read and Purchase Current Young Adult Books
  • Eliminate the SHHH! Library Mentality
  • Entice Teens in the Door With Carrots
  • Bring Teens in the Door With Displays
  • Promote Books in the Library
  • Provide an Engaging Social Media Presence
  • Keep Those Library Events Happening
  • Be High Tech
  • Extend Your Hours Beyond the School Day
  • Be Fully Versed in the Young Adult Culture
  • Keep Booklists
  • Supplement the Budget
  • Talk With Your Students
Read the entire VOYA magazine article >>

To follow Librarian Lisa Stultz:
@StratfordLearns
https://www.goodreads.com/libraryink

To follow Librarian Charla Hollingsworth:
@HNGCLibrary
https://www.goodreads.com/hngclibrary

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