Jean Darnell: Awaken Librarian!

As if my last post wasn't enough...

  First, for those kiddos watching this blog like a hawk... Yeah, I still support my Star Wars addiction ...I just gotta keep it professional 95% of the time...but rest assured, I will be decked out in my best gear on May 4th, forcing choking folks working my nerves in my mind until the Jedi Counsel decides to initiate me with my purple lightsaber so I can continue the cause of the rebellion!

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.

My, my, my it appears history is a revolving door, as it relates to book bans based on discrimination and prejudices. Therefore, let's breakdown exactly how library books are selected so that instances like the following can fade to black: Access article here . Access article here . There are links to the articles for you to form your own opinion. But until those involved obtain a masters degree with hundreds of hours in the classroom and an exam completion rate of 80% or higher, please stay away from what you're not qualified to do. Entitlement to opinon is one thing, but taking away intellect for my kids, which is ALL kids regardless of socioeconomic, sexual or gender statuses...that's library treason, i.e. CENSORSHIP . We ain't having it. The "out of place" vernacular is intentional.   And before you ask, some librarians are more than qualified to choose books for students. Not only do we have the literal degrees, but librarians like myself, went a...

I appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts on Women's month. I won't lie to you, growing up, I was a tomboy. I learned at an early age, men had the power and women served them. I began rocking that mentality immediately...a rebel with a legitimate cause. As a woman, I've enjoyed being such and loathed being such. I hate that women have to work 24/7. I work as the sole-provider of my family. I take off of work, when kids are sick. I work while sick. No work, no money. I grind harder than any man and make more sacrifices than most...just to make 80 cents on the dollar compared to a man, who does less work...has a society that caters to HIS needs...and very rarely has to be in the position to lose pay because he chose his kids over his job....and I'm Black (which is it's own win and woe in today's times). Therefore, the acknowledgement from our President that there must be equity, equality and an END the gender paygap , I felt a little more SEEN and HEARD...

 This month has been back to back celebration of all the excellence Black trailblazers, innovators and Ancestors contributed to our nation. I couldn't be more proud to share snippets of the library's efforts to honor Black History then  and now . In honor of BHM then the library sponsored a Quilting Bee where we worked on patches to add to our "Dessau Unity Quilt" that the wonderful Mrs. Vickie West will compile into a wonderful quilt to display in the library. Here's a video highlighting excerpts from the day! Because so much of African American's history is riddled with unfortunate hatred and bondage, it was imperative that the BHM now centered on understanding the struggles of those ahead of us who fought the good fight. Therefore, we made a "light-hearted research" activity (light = research w/o a paper) and combined it with art to create a unique twist on our "Family Tree." This is what happens when you collaborate w/...

 I couldn't be more excited to share with you the library activities we have going on this month! In addition to our wonderful newsletter stacked with embedded resources, I am happy to share that there will be a Pflugerville ISD district wide webinar featuring my lesson: Black Representation in YA and Children's Literature. The hallway is full of researched trees!👏🏾 pic.twitter.com/UbiWCX9Gfr — AwakenLibrarian (@awakenlibrarian) February 22, 2022 Our Beloved Black History Month Newsletter In case you cannot make the webinar, please see the lesson here: