…changing the world, one reader at a time.
I love writing about libraries, and in this category you’ll find personal and professional writing pieces on a wide variety of library and reading topics. Some are published originally to this blog, and others are freelance work for digital and print outlets.
This week, I had the amazing opportunity to moderate a virtual session for the Virginia Festival of the Book‘s Shelf Life series. Double Draw Dare had everything – a gameshow wheel, outer space dragons, sea creatures in formal wear, and two incredibly talented illustrators: Tom Angleberger and Dub Leffler. I’m still sore from laughing! I […]
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September 28-October 2 is Banned Books Week. Buckle up, because – surprise! – I have some feelings about censorship. Librarian Mike Rawls, otherwise known as @thebookwrangler, put it beautifully on his Instagram page this week: “Books are banned for all kinds of reasons… but 8 out of 10 books on the American Library Association’s Most […]
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“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Albert Einstein. School should be a place for all types of learners and thinkers to shine. This year, Learning Village Librarian Sarah FitzHenry learned about the idea […]
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Earlier this week, I shared the most popular posts of 2019, according to statistics, on Fitz Between the Shelves. And while it’s fascinating to see what readers enjoy the most, it’s also surprising to see what makes it to the top of the list; because they’re rarely the moments that I loved the most! So […]
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Happy New Year, friends! I hope you’re having a wonderful holiday. I’m excited to share our top posts of 2019 – they’re always so different than I expect. Some of these were favorites last year, too, and some are brand new. I know that I loved writing them – I hope that enjoyed reading them […]
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As 2019 comes to a close, it’s time to reflect on the stories that moved me this year – for better or for worse. I read about 275 books in 2019, and there were so many fabulous reads that this list was darn near impossible to narrow down! This list spans middle grade through adult, […]
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Last Friday, November 8, I had the pleasure of joining a fabulous presentation team to share 20,000 Pennies, our story of community connection sparked through literature. Our presentation team included Kara McClurken, co-founder of Bennett’s Village, and Jack Dozier, St. Anne’s-Belfield School student and leader of the Leveling the Playing Field for Children in Charlottesville […]
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Local to the Charlottesville area? I’ve been working with New Dominion Bookshop, the beloved Charlottesville institution, to bring free family programming out of the library and into the city this summer. You can read more about the partnership here. We had a whale of a time at our first round of events (ha! Whale! Narwhal! […]
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This article was published on Nerdy Book Club on July 27, 2019. You can read in its original format here. If you’re a reading teacher, librarian, or parent, then you probably already know: graphic novels are all the rage. They’re fun to read, they’re deep and evocative, and they engage all kinds of readers at first glance. […]
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Computer Science is an Open Book: Connection CS to Literacy in the K-4 Classroom was originally given at the 2019 Computer Science Institute at St. Anne’s-Belfield School. Find resources and feedback on the session’s Padlet. Feel free to join in the conversation.
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