ISCI794 TL Interviews: Part 3

  

Teacher Librarian: Jen Gomez    School: Charleston County School of the Arts

Shared Foundation: Engage

Jen Gomez has been the Teacher Librarian at School of the Arts for 2 years. She came to the position after 4 years as the TL at another CCSD middle school; prior to that she taught Spanish. Her experience as a classroom teacher is evident in her approach to librarianship, as is her true empathy for her colleagues and the students she serves. SOA's library is shared by Academic Magnet High School, but each school has a dedicated librarian, so Mrs. Gomez is able to devote the majority of her time and attention to 6th-8th grade students and teachers.

In discussing the AASL's shared foundations and competencies, Mrs. Gomez highlighted several lessons she's delivered already this year that we agree met criteria for multiple key commitments! Our conversation kept coming back to the Engage foundation, since she is often asked by teachers to support technology-driven and research based units of study. Mrs. Gomez expressed the importance of teaching students to use, cite, and create information resources ethically and properly before they even begin a research journey, to set them up for long-term academic success. We discussed the growing importance of doing so given the evolution of the AI model and the expansion of the 'gray area' created by digital and technological advancements today- giving students the tools and techniques to use now can aid them in making the right choices as technology continues to evolve.

Mrs. Gomez has incorporated an introduction to database use into her library orientation sessions with 6th grade students so that they are familiar with the location and format of them by the time they take on their first research project of the year. Mrs. Gomez stressed the importance of modeling the skills she teaches to students as well, and has developed a Book Talk Tuesday program where she suggests a good read and records herself sharing a quick summary of the book alongside a source citation. She encourages teachers to follow suit too, and has curated collaborative partnerships across several subject areas that require students to practice their own source evaluation and citation skills. Like many other librarians with whom I've spoken, Mrs. Gomez cited time constraints as the biggest obstacle to increasing collaborations, so one strategy she employs to entice teachers to team up for instructional planning is establishing herself as an expert in all manners of information use.