Mrs. Levine Teach

 October 24, 2021 As my second course in the librarian series at UVM begins to wrap up, I am feeling so grateful for my mentor, Michael Flanagan.  For years people have been telling me that we are two kindred spirits.  Two peas in a pod.  But it wasn't until I went to visit him and his space that I actually believed it! His palpable energy is felt throughout his space.  It's excited, it's put together, it's inviting....just like him.  Although he has been doing this for five years now, he still makes me feel like I have something to offer HIM in the library/tech world.  I see this being a true partnership as we move forward. We have already begun to discuss a common section procedure and challenged book policy for our district.  We do not currently have one that has been adopted by the school board and are both anxious to have more "teeth" in the documents that protect our collections and ourselves.   This project has been my favorite so far ...

 October 2nd, 2021 Well, I just finished up my very first celebration of Banned Book Week and I am feeling empowered, invigorated, and so so hopeful!  The students were engaged and more motivated than ever to ask questions, seek answers, and promoted others to get involved too.  This was a huge win. Students not only read the books but they participated in a socratic seminar too!  Kiddos that read a banned book motivated me to bust out the button maker and we made buttons that said, "Censorship leaves us in the dark.  Read a banned book." They were so excited to use this maker space resource, send a message to the world about their stance and have some fun while we were at it!  They also were able to pull a vinyl sticker from the cool bin I stocked up at the beginning of the year.  Who doesn't want a great sticker for their water bottle?!  They were a huge hit and I plan to continue with that external motivator in some of the other library challen...