ISCI794 TL Interviews: Part 1

 

Teacher Librarian: Dr. Lara Russell    School: Academic Magnet High School

Shared Foundation: Include

Dr. Lara Russell has been the Teacher Librarian at Academic Magnet High School in Charleston, SC for 5 years. One of her top priorities in her tenure there has been to bolster inclusivity in the Bonds Wilson library. Beginning in 2020, Dr. Russell chartered the school's first ever Library Advisory Committee as a way to amplify student voices in planning and executing library programming and curating the Bonds Wilson collection. Students from all grade levels volunteer their time and thoughts at monthly meetings to discuss their ideas, interests, goals, and needs with Dr. Russell; in turn, she applies their insights when planning special events and activities, library displays, and procurement of new materials. I so admire that Dr. Russell both understands and models responsive and inclusive librarianship through her practice of proactively seeking student opinions and ideas. I was fortunate enough to attend the first AMLAC meeting of this school year, at which members discussed ways to promote leisure reading among students.

Before Academic Magnet was built, the original school on that campus was Bonds Wilson High School. It was opened in 1950, and while the school was eventually integrated and ultimately torn down, it served the mostly African American community of Liberty Hill. Dr. Russell has spearheaded efforts to collect and digitize artifacts from Bonds Wilson into a curated collection to honor AMHS's predecessor and the residents who still call Liberty Hill home. Once that process is completed, the digital collection will be published for public access.

Dr. Russell's GBE focus for the current school year is to increase collaboration with content area teachers. She has reached out to teachers in the ELA, history, and special area departments already to offer her expertise in supporting and delivering instructional content. For one 9th grade ELA teacher, she was able to curate a collection of digital resources for students in a lead up to their unit on The Crucible and took great care to include the perspectives of historically marginalized voices. She is currently working with the art teacher to facilitate a unit on the art of the graphic novel, with exemplar titles with a diverse array of subjects, characters, and author/illustrators.