Blog

Library Journal Movers & Shakers 2025

5/7/2025

This comics exhibit at Love Library at SDSU was curated by Pamela Jackson.

Pamela giving us a tour of her exhibit.

I am excited to congratulate Pamela Jackson for being selected as a 2025 Library Journal Mover & Shaker. This award is given annual to a group of librarian leaders.

Pamela is a Comic Arts Librarian (before I met her, I didn't know that was a job!) at San Diego State University. I met her last summer when she led a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) teacher institute I attended called "Using Comics to Teach Social Justice."

I was so impressed by Jackson's work and by her leadership during the institute that I decided to nominate her for a Mover & Shaker award. In my application, I called her a "Comics Evangelist" and that phrase is used in her profile on the Library Journal website.

And double bonus: One of our guest speakers at the NEH institute has also been named to this year's class of Movers & Shakers: Moni Barrette. Barrette is also a librarian with expertise in the world of comics. You can read all about her work here.

Thank you, Library Journal, for recognizing librarians and spotlighting them so we can all benefit from their knowledge and work.

I hope you will take time to read about more of the 2025 Movers & Shakers. Their stories are inspiring.

BW Morning Show Interview: Amy Brownlee

5/1/2025

Thanks to radio host Glen Grunwald for inviting me into the KWBW 1450 Am 98.5 Fm studio to talk about the travel-and-learn teacher programs I have lined up for this summer. I am traveling to Germany for a 10-day teacher study trip with the Atlantik Brücke organization and will also spend a week in Washington, D.C. for the White House History Teacher Institute.

The interview is available in podcast form here.

How does this book make me better? Using the book, head, heart strategy

5/1/2025

Thanks to Teen Librarian Toolbox, a School Library Journal network blog, for publishing my article about using the Book, Head, Heart strategy with readers. It's such a great discussion tool that I use regularly with people of all ages.

KLA Member Spotlight

4/15/2025

I'm excited to be featured in this month's Kansas Libraries Newsletter, a publication of the Kansas Library Association. I was selected for the Member Spotlight feature. Take a look at page 4 of the newsletter to read the article. Thank you, KLA, for the library love!

Poetry Gateways

4/2/2025

I'm thrilled to have a new article, "Poetry Gateways," posted on School Library Journal's Teen Librarian Toolbox blog.

I love teaching poetry, but I feel like the genre gets shortchanged with the heavy focus on preparing for state tests. In this article, I share resources and activities that have sparked engagement and joy in my library.

I also share about our outstanding visit from Grant Snider, author and illustrator of Poetry Comics, which is a fantastic resource for middle grade readers. I have included some photos of his visit.

Librarian selected for Study Trip to Germany

3/10/2025

I was surprised and elated to learn that I have been selected for a teacher's study trip to Germany this summer! The official press release is below.

Amy Brownlee, district librarian and reading teacher for USD 376 Sterling, KS, has been selected to participate in the Atlantik-Brücke 2025 Transatlantic Study Trip to Germany. She is part of a group of 15 educators from the United States who will visit Munich, Chemnitz, Dresden, and Berlin on the fully-funded, 10-day trip.

Brownlee will visit schools, cultural sites, and museums, and meet with German decision-makers from the fields of politics, media, business, and education. According to their website, “Atlantik-Brücke has offered these study trips for over 30 years and has in the process welcomed hundreds of American teachers from various regions of the United States to Germany.”

“I am excited to meet German teachers and learn about modern Germany,” Brownlee said. “Most of my knowledge of the country is from a historical perspective.”

Brownlee earned a bachelor's degree from Bethany College and a master's degree from Emporia State University. In 2017, she was named Kansas School Librarian of the Year. She was a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship recipient chosen for the Ethiopia for Teachers study trip to Africa in July 2010. Last summer, Brownlee took part in a National Endowment for the Humanities teacher institute. During her 25-year career, she has secured over $94,000 in grant funding and given over 40 workshop presentations.

Exploring Social Justice Through Comics

3/10/2025

I have a few articles that were accepted for publication on Teen Library Toolbox, a School Library Journal network blog, this spring. The first one was published today! You can read my post "Exploring Social Justice Through Comics" here.

I was excited to have the opportunity to share my knowledge about social justice issues portrayed through graphic novels and comics. In the article, I share some programming ideas and a book list of some of my favorite social justice comics I've read over the past couple of years.

PD with Perks: Travel and Learn

2/3/2025

I am excited to share an article I wrote that was published by Edutopia. In PD with Perks: Travel and Learn, I share some amazing professional development experiences I've had through National Endowment for the Humanities and Fulbright-Hays programs.

The article includes tips for applying to these and similar programs and along with a list of travel and learn PD programs and how to discover new opportunities.

If you love to travel and learn, you'll want to take a look.

Blue Nile Falls, Ethiopia

Gondar, Ethiopia

Rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia

Comic-Con International, San Diego, CA

Thanks to AASL Smart Brief for including my article in your publication!

Wholly Entertaining: Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris

12/12/2024

I have long been a fan of Mac Barnett's work, especially his picture book Sam and Dave Dig a Hole and his humorous chapter book series Mac B., Kid Spy and The Terrible Two.

When I learned author Mac Barnett and illustrator Shawn Harris would be stopping in Wichita on a tour promoting book three of the First Cat in Space series, I immediately made plans to attend. The event was an hour of pure fun and entertainment.

Barnett and Harris have been friends since they were kids, which is not surprising considering their obvious camaraderie. The event felt less like a presentation and more like they had invited the audience into their private clubhouse to play along as they told stories together. It is obvious that they love what they do, and they are consummate professionals at the art of playing and letting their imaginations run wild.

The result was a session that had kids and adults alike engaged and totally engrossed in the world of First Cat and the rest of the kooky characters.

First Cat got his start during the COVID shut-down when Mac and Shawn streamed weekly "live cartoons" on Instagram. Later, those ideas became a graphic novel that has now grown into a series of three books. Not only has the duo created physical representations of their characters, but also a distinctive voice for each one. Barnett and Harris have recorded full audio narrations of the First Cat books complete with music and sound effects. They performed excerpts of the books live for the audience along with the illustrations projected on a screen.

They brought the whole thing up a notch when Shawn grabbed a guitar, took his place in front of a microphone, and proceeded to lead a sing-along of songs written to complement the story. The First Cat in Space website is a treasure trove of content: you can watch the original "live cartoons," listen to the audio narration while viewing the illustrations, and listen to the songs.

I can't wait to share all this with my students. They are going to love it!

I was thrilled to get an autographed copy of the newest First Cat book for my school library. After the presentation, I waited in line to meet Mac and Shawn and get a photo with them in front of the fun space-themed backdrop. I loved getting to say hello and tell them, "Thank you for creating books the kids love to read."

World Read Aloud Day: Join the Fun!

11/22/2024

What is WRAD?
World Read Aloud Day will be celebrated on Feb. 5, 2025. The annual event was started in 2010 as a way to celebrate the joy of reading and to encourage the practice of reading aloud and sharing a good story together.

How do I get connected with an author?
Author Kate Messner organizes free, online author visits for World Read Aloud Day. Last year my school participated for the first time and it was a wonderful experience! I wanted to take time to explain how it all works and to share some tips on maximizing the event to get students excited about reading. To get connected with an author/illustrator offering a free Zoom visit, sign up for Kate Messner's newsletter. She announced (on the social network Blue Sky) that the list of participating authors/illustrators will be released next week and appointments are made on a first come/first served basis.

You can visit the World Read Aloud Day Activity Hub to find resources and activities.

How do I plan for a successful, impactful WRAD event?

Choose an author whose books you can purchase and have kids start reading before the event or who has books already in your collection.
Schedule 30-45 minutes with students for the event. (The actual time with the author is 15 minutes, but you can use the block of time to maximize the impact of the experience.)
Build excitement for the event. Tell kids you have an online author visit coming up. Create posters with the author’s name, photo, and book covers.

A week or a few days before:

Confirm with author. Create and share Zoom link.
Prepare a display of the author’s books along with read-alikes. Remind kids they can put a book on hold and try a read-alike.
Invite kids to write out questions for the author ahead of time. Choose 3-4 kids to ask their question.
Test tech ahead of time. If using Zoom, ask an off campus / out of district friend to try a Zoom meeting with you on the equipment you will use.

Day of:

Have kids come in early and get settled.
Tell a little about the author and their books. Explain how the visit will go. Our time is limited so we must be very quiet and good listeners during our Zoom. Explain the Q&A procedure.
Announce the students who will get to ask a question. Have them sit at the front of the room near the computer so the author can hear them. Let kids know who will ask the first question, who will ask the second, etc. Give them their question written out to read aloud. They may get nervous!

Enjoy your author session! Take photos or ask someone else to take photos.
Share more books this author has written. Ask: what is something surprising or interesting the author shared?
Share read-alikes. Point out display. Discuss how to place a hold.
I always like to end book promotion activities by saying to students: Turn to a neighbor and tell them a book you heard about today that you’d like to read.

Afterward:

Post photos on social media and tag the author, thanking them for their time. Share with others by writing an article for the newspaper, school newsletter, or school website.
Keep the display up for a couple of weeks or as long as interest stays high.
You could keep stats in circulation of books from display to show how WRAD impacted reading at your school.
Reflect on what worked, what could be improved, and make a note to do it again next year.

Last year's WRAD Zoom visit was with middle grade historical fiction author Marsha Skrypuch. I recommended historical fiction titles by Jennifer Nielsen and Alan Gratz as read-alikes. You can learn more about our amazing visit with the author here. You can view my slide presentation for last year's WRAD event here.