Jean Darnell: Awaken Librarian

For #InternationalWomensDay, a Literary Hub author Jess Decourcy Hinds, selected librarians who inspire her...and I MADE THE LIST! 🥰 Truth be told, this mention lifted my day above the clouds. I overwork, overthink and overanalyze just about everything I interact with so much so that I deplete my energy reserves without regard to rest. But this...the title and all of my peers included within the article speaks to the fearlessness librarians and women MUST have to endure in this world led predominantly by those who want to silence us. Normally, I'm celebrating the accomplishments of women who inspired me for Women's History Month, but this time, the table's turned. I embrace the honor and present to you: "8 Badass Librarians We Need to Celebrate This International Women's Day"

Hello friends! I know it's been a while since I posted, but big changes happened in my life. I accepted a new leadership role on the east coast in Philadelphia. This presentation below is how it all began: Reimagining Philly by Jean Darnell Which led to this... And this... So, there you have it. I'm a Library Director in Philadelphia! Here are a few pictures of me in action: Don't worry, I will get back to my AI adventures in 2025. You can still catch me at TCEA 2025 as a conference presenter in February and I will be a SXSWEdu in March!

It's the beginning of another school year! I have the fortunate blessing of working with my literary and spiritual sister, KC Boyd, for the BEST and most ENLIGHTENING professional development any librarian can ask for, hands down!!! The above slides are just the creative and visual graphics of the same titled lesson I wrote for PBS NewsHour . Please click on that link because I worked hard to ensure those primary resources were well researched and representative of two icons that used their platforms to change the world: Mrs. Ida B. Wells and Billie "Lady Day" Holiday!   Art has always been a passion of mine. Whether I'm painting, drawing, playing my cello, cooking, I will always interpret and release what is inside of me or provoking a response. That, in essence, is art in its multitudes of forms. I believe everyone has a bit of artist in them. It can be in a craftmanship like old school blacksmiths, sculpture carving like Michelangelo, or fashionable art li...

Between April Fool's Day, Librarian's Day, Earth Day, etc. I truly believe this month is full of revival and revelations! Here's the newsletter for this celebratory month! Enjoy!   My Haiku Diary for April 1, 2022   "Break Fast Me Not"  Sun rays blinded me.  My belly grumbles loudly.  Pancakes, eggs and juice.

Kung Hei Fat Choy! I don't know about you, but the Goat was not kind to me last year, though I did blog about the mighty ram ! Therefore, I'm excited to celebrate this Chinese New Year. Cock-a-doodle-doooooo! Welcome to the Year of the Rooster! May it be a wondrous year full of good luck! Here are a few snapshots from our "day of absorption!" Then we did a wee bit of research and learned these fun "superstitions" courtesy of China Highlights ... Please enjoy our "digital dejavu" of how much fun we had! The Year of the Rooster in the Library! from AwakenLibrarian on Vimeo . Next, we fed our brains and coordination skills with The Story of Chopsticks , provided by GetEpic : #FlyHighFriday fun: Learning how to use #chopsticks ! My princess did it! WOO-hoo! 👏🏾 #HISD #chinesenewyear pic.twitter.com/dgr7i3ia6I — AwakenLibrarian (@awakenlibrarian) January 27, 2017 To conclude with some sizzling knowledge, this new year celebr...

So...how many of you librarians have visual directives to assist students with returning items to the shelves? Well if you don't have any visual aides, you're in luck! This post is dedicated to shelfie conversations that "cutely" address how to treat the library books. If you have CHAMP behavior level expectations at your campus, then these Shelfie Talkers cover all facets! C -Conversation: Level is 1. The only discussion is for assistance with shelving materials. H -Help: The help needed is re-shelving books. Follow alphabet order for "fiction" books and numeric order for non-fiction! A -Activity: We're returning the books back to the shelves in alpha/numeric order. M -Movement: We're walking to the shelves without disturbing others. P -Participation: This activity benefits you & the librarian so books can be easily found next time. S -Success: I know exactly where that book is on the shelf! Enjoy!

Tomorrow is... We're kicking off our celebration with "Story Webs!" However, instead of a boring graphic organizer (LOL), I made it interactive with a ball of yarn, some giggle and one classic story! We featured a great updated version of the "Three Ninja Pigs" with Corey Rosen Schwartz and Dan Santat's " The Three Ninja Pigs " See all the excitement with our iMovie recap: International Literacy Day from AwakenLibrarian on Vimeo . Here's the campus wide challenge that we gave staff members: For more resources on how you can incorporation some literacy and reading fun check out 11 Creative Reading Incentives for You Classroom ! As a bonus, I came across this wonderful Eduphoria find for teaching literary analysis. I just had to share! :) Big Update: I ABSOLUTELY LOVE MY NEW PRINCIPAL! She's a former librarian and she loves reading to the students! Her SUPER-POWER is spreading the joy of literacy! Thank you, Mrs. Metoye...

As promised, if you want to win one of the three Eric Dean Seaton's LEGEND OF THE MANTAMAJI , PLEASE make sure you answer ALL questions, including your name, grade and teacher (NGT) . Without NGT, I don't know who wins the book and I will selected the next winner! Also, you must be 12 yrs or older to win this book! Don't miss out because you didn't follow directions...oh and ABSOLUTELY NO CHEATING!! Yes, I can figure out if you've cheated...kiddos! Here's a short (film) hot from the Legend of Mantamaji website! Loading... Here's an interview with the AWESOME Mr. Seaton! And, yes, I met Mr. Seaton at the Texas Library Association's Annual Conference this year!

Woo-hoo! It's National Library Week! Are you participating in the ALA National Library Week Challenge?? I am! :) @ALALibrary Here's my #bannedbook from the 2015 list! 😈 #LibrariesTransform #photochallenge #LoveMySchoolLibrary pic.twitter.com/vAOEJnU2lW — AwakenLibrarian (@awakenlibrarian) April 11, 2016 Happy #NLWD2016 Myself & Mrs. Noceja-my beloved Kindergarten #coworker / #friend !! #WNDLibs @ALALibrary pic.twitter.com/llmLkhufRB — AwakenLibrarian (@awakenlibrarian) April 12, 2016 The best part of my #library 's the entrance door: Seeing those kiddos' smiles, hugs & exuberance inspires me! #NLW16 pic.twitter.com/f50iA27vSq — AwakenLibrarian (@awakenlibrarian) April 13, 2016 Libraries inspire hope w/in the community& provide the resources needed to achieve their dreams! #LibrariesTransform pic.twitter.com/u6ZLZo3csg — AwakenLibrarian (@awakenlibrarian) April 14, 2016 Pls chk out how we've celebrated #NLW16 ...

It's that time again, THE BOOK FAIR! This go-around I decided to do things a little bit differently. I created a "How-to" video for my kiddos, as well as some other digital tidbits! :) Please enjoy and will us some good favor/positive thoughts so that we reach our highest goal yet, $8,000! Now before you (my eager students) get too excited, remember our ground rules: 1. Check the back of the books/items for prices. 2. Put things back where you found them. 3. Ask for help. 4. Don't forget to include tax! 5. Books before bobbles! Bobbles being the gadget/toys you want to buy 1st! Like these... and we can't forget these... So, please come on out and support us next week! We'll see you in our LITERARY GALAXY! Book Fair's almost here! Shop online: https://t.co/3HrYrSvHXh . Grandparents Night Tues, 4-6 pm. TY for your support! pic.twitter.com/AkP9ZR5AId — Goodman_Owls (@Goodman_Owls) March 3, 2016 GRAND TOTAL FOR THE BOOK FAIR WAS $7,27...

Today was a GREAT DAY! I did get to meet my #TwitterLibraryMentor, Mr. John Schu ! So for my kiddos who follow my blog, here's another example of my reaching out to my dreams. I've followed Mr. Schu's blog since 2013. I enjoyed learning from his book-trailers and experiences. He inspired me to keep going with my own views on what a 21st century library looks like! So it was UBER COOL to meet him today! Awesome-sauce! And, he admitted to being happy to meet me! Don't believe me...check this out! @awakenlibrarian It was wonderful meeting you. — John Schu (@MrSchuReads) January 27, 2016 What is even a greater bonus is Mr. Schu graciously gave me a copy of the newly awarded Newberry Medal book, Last Stop on Market Street written by Matt De La Pena with illustrations by Christian Robinson. Here's some student feedback of the author's purpose from the Last Stop on Market Street: "The author's purpose was to persuade the reader to be gratefu...

So...it's January! The kiddos have had a long holiday break and they DON'T want to be here...muchless follow rules! Therefore, this post is dedicated the rules of the library and behavior expectations. Please enjoy these pictures and videos...I hope it will inspire better behavior expectations! :) And for my little Owls, here's a message from our principal and an "Oscar-worthy" performance by some of your friends or in this case...partners in crime! :) We all know that students can listen and focus when they WANT to...ever seen a kid gaming? 100% focus. I've learned that their selective apathy is called #Slackitude . Check out this read on Medium by Sadies Ceng: #Slacktitude P.S. Here's a *BONUS* for you...a book on breaking rules: Break These Rules: 35 YA Authors on Speaking Up, Standing Out and Being Yourself !

A few weeks ago, I posted about Egyptian Mummies. The kids were AMAZED that beneath the pyramids were a labyrinth of mazes! That was the beginning of this week's lesson: MAZES! Yes...I was one of those kids that would complete a maze book in one day! Therefore, it was off to Amazon.com to find them: Then I had the grand idea to have the students compete on a poster-size and laminated free maze: And that was the beginning of the end...the kids went ZONKERS! Here's a video archive of the day... What I most enjoyed was the concluding activity: I chose 2 volunteers. One person acted as the "hands," the other were the "eyes." They had to work together to complete the maze. This was TEAMWORK at its best because one had to listen (because they were blindfolded) and the other volunteer had to articulate clearly. It's amazing how well they can listen when they want a treat! And yes, that pun was intentional! As my new, beloved principal say...