Poetry month always makes me read more novels-in-verse! Here are 8 of my recent recommendations: thestoryspectator.blogspot.com/2026/05/poet... Comment on the verse novels you’d recommend!

April 30th was the last day of National Poetry Month and School Library Month so it’s fitting that Poem in Your Pocket Day wrapped up a month full of celebrating the art of language in my high school library⤵️ Thanks to @POETSorg for the support materials.

It’s the first day of National Library Week & the perfect time to show how much joy libraries bring! From public libraries to school libraries, they are welcoming spaces to all & serve as community hubs for gathering & learning⤵️

Happy School Librarian Day to my fellow secondary district librarians! We are missing one of us in this pic, but we try to take group photos together as much as we can. We’ve got to stick together!

Happy School Library Month! School libraries inspire a love of learning and give every student the resources they need to succeed. Visit the American Association of School Librarians website to access resources and find ways to celebrate and promote School Library Month! ow.ly/jLJQ50YCOXu #AASLslm

Spring Break in NYC = bookstore & library crawl⤵️ Indie bookstore Book Culture near Columbia University on the UWS was a delight!

Happy Persian New Year today! 💐 If you haven’t already, share the beautiful picture book by Rashin: Welcome, Uncle Nowruz! It tells the tale of the ancient holiday and shares the hope of a better tomorrow. #picturebooks #nowruz

Another Black History Month is coming to a close, but the books in my high school library continue to circulate, be discussed and enjoyed all year round⤵️ What type of displays or programming did you see this past month in honor of the observance?

We honor 🧧Lunar New Year 🐴 in our high school library with items from NYC’s Chinatown, Diso, The Book Wrangler, Canva and Junior Library Guild⤵️ What do have you seen in your libraries?

We do send a friend a valentine & our Ultimate Book Lover's Basket giveaway!

How does my high school library celebrate Valentine’s 💌 Day? 💝 Blind Date with a Book ❤️ Make + Take Friendship bracelets 💘 YA romance bookmarks, stickers + make your own romance story pamphlet What has been popular in your libraries?

The Olympics are a great opportunity to bring your classroom or school together to experience fun competition, geography and teamwork. Check out what I did with my middle school ⤵️ thestoryspectator.blogspot.com/2022/01/popc...

One. I have one school visit scheduled for the 2025-26 school year. Before the book banning movement and the politics of hate metastasized, I visited 40, 50, and 60 schools each year. This regime of monstrous evildoers is actively trying to erase LGBTQ+ stories, identities, and humans. Resist

Congratulations to Daniel Nayeri on the Newbery Honor Medal for the incredible book, The Teacher of Nomad Land⤵️ If you haven’t read it yet, you’re missing out! Everyone I’ve recommended it to has been moved by this account of children in Iran during WWII.

Congratulations to Zeke Peña’s Caldecott Honor for Sundust 💗 My school library was gifted a copy of the gorgeous picture book in both English and Spanish languages from the publisher, Penguin Random House⤵️

My high school library’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day display went up and I’m grateful for Canva for having signage in Spanish and English to commemorate it ⤵️

Out of the 130 books I read last year I narrowed down my 4 and 5 ⭐️ ratings here for young adult, middle grade and adult reads⤵️ thestoryspectator.blogspot.com/2025/12/reco...

How fitting that on Jane Austen’s 250th birthday today, I got a copy of Emma in my MiniBrands blind box⤵️ #schoollibraries

I can’t believe author Lauren Tarshis’ 25th I Survived book was released! My students have been huge fans of this series at each school and state where I’ve worked. Scholastic sent an awesome timeline poster of the books along with journals & bookmarks for school libraries⤵️ #schoollibraries

What do other libraries do with unwanted donated books other than setting them out for the school community to take for free? ⤵️ #schoollibraries

What is it like for a child of divorce? Author, Matthew A. Tower along with award-winning artist Tsuneo Sanda take readers through the experience as an homage to Star Wars. Thanks to Publishers Weekly for the chance to share this book with my students⤵️ #books #schoollibraries

Upcycling items for bookmarks has been quite the experience in my high school library ⤵️ ✏️ colored pencil shavings ▫️Lego boxes 📄 hole-punches #schoollibraries

The high school library is festive & bright for winter season. The book tree and Lite-Brite station have been popular this week ⤵️ #SchoolLibraries

My high school library’s Native American Heritage Month book display and realia include some of my favorite books by Indigenous authors⤵️ Harvest House by Cynthia Leitich Smith Where Wolves Don’t Die by Anton Treuer Sisters of the Wind by Angeline Boulley Looking for Smoke by K.A. Cobell

New DIY bookmarks from donations of my high school’s marine biology class & a donated (damaged) Middle Ages book ⤵️

November decor, gratitude cards & Children’s Book Week in our high school library this week ⤵️

Library witch 🧙🏼📔🎃 using everything to keep the library magic alive! 🪄

“We think folks are one way until they show you that they’re not that way at all.” The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze by Derrick Barnes⤵️ Middle grade readers & up will appreciate this story as it examines issues of power, legacy & history. #libraries #books #schoollibrarians

My high school students are getting into the Halloween spirit! 👻 💀 🎃 #schoollibraries #schoollibrarian #highschool

11th grade booktalks + book tastings all day ⤵️ We covered some strategies for finding interesting books, from browsing displays to finding favorite authors and word of mouth recommendations. The conversations over the books were priceless! #schoollibraries #schoollibrarian

The newest book by award-winning author Tiffany D. Jackson just blew my mind! High school readers and adults are in for an incredibly suspenseful, twisty and entertaining experience ⤵️ #YALit #books #schoollibraries

What are high schoolers reading these days? I snapped my school library’s holds shelf and books returned just yesterday ready to be shelved⤵️ #schoollibrarian

What does author Derrick Barnes Hope children get from his books? “They have the power to change things where they are. You don’t have to wait until you’re an adult.” ⤵️ #SLJDOD #schoollibraries

My high school students love E.L. Lockhart’s books so I had to tune into her speaking about her new book coming out in November⤵️ #SLJDOD #schoollibraries

My high school students love E.L. Lockhart’s books so I had to tune into her speaking about her new book coming out in November⤵️ #SLJDOD #schoollibraries

“All of our families are complicated.” -Laura Taylor Namey and other YA authors, Mariama J. Lockington and Ryan Estrada discuss emotionally satisfying stories this morning at SLJ’s Day of Dialog ⤵️ #SLJDOD #schoollibraries

Banned Books Week at my high school library includes a display, book cart full of titles that have been challenged or banned in other places and lessons with classes. The one below is a social justice and ethnic studies class⤵️ #schoollibraries #schoollibrarian #bannedbooksweek

My students have asked for books in Jenny Han’s The Summer I Turned Pretty series which led to a request for a display of summer love stories⤵️ #schoollibraries #schoollibrarian #yalit

I don’t usually read spooky books, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to read the latest from these stellar storytellers⤵️ 💙The Last Resort by Erin Entrada Kelly for middle grade readers ❤️‍🔥The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum for young adult & adult readers #libraries #schoollibrarians #books

What does an inspiring school library look like? Educator Fallon Farokhi of @thestoryspectator.bsky.social shares favorite memories of children's responses to the fun environment she and other librarians created. See below: menderist.com/creating-ent...

Our Hispanic + Latinx Heritage Month book display is up in our high school library. The books in both fiction and nonfiction genres offer our students a window, mirror or sliding door from authentic writers. A big thanks to Melissa Corey for the Canva template! #schoollibraries #schoollibrary

What a batch of ready-to-use resources here for TeenTober in libraries next month! Actually, next WEEK! #schoollibraries #schoollibrarians

So glad I added Star Wars figures & stuffies to the school library this year⤵️ They went perfectly with our HOCO theme! #schoollibraries

Agatha Christie was born 135 years ago this week so it was fitting to feature her books in our school library collection⤵️ A lot of my students hadn’t heard of her at all & were impressed by her body of work. Thanks to BookRiot for the 2 Truths + 1 Lie, so fun! #schoollibraries #books

Up in Smoke 💨 by Nick Brooks is perfect for fans of The Hate You Give and I’m Not Dying With You Tonight. Mo, a teen sister, tries to clear the name of her big brother accused of murder. Her crush,Cooper, helps her but he’s keeping a big secret about where he was that night…⤵️ #SchoolLibraries

Did you know the Sunday after Labor Day in the U.S. is Grandparents’ Day? I had lots of conversations with my students about their memories of their grandparents and got to share some of mine as well. It was fun to feature books with grandparents in them. Do you have any favorites? #SchoolLibraries

📚 Book subscriptions 📦 ready to be added to our high school library collection⤵️ from Junior Library Guild #schoollibraries

Do 🔐 BreakoutEDU (escape room games) work with high school students? YES! 🏆 This past week I set up a game about 🌪️ The Dust Bowl for ELA classes reading 📕 Of Mice and Men. It was a huge hit! Next week, government classes and a SPED class have their own. Have you tried them? #SchoolLibraries

My students gave a 👍🏽 to our school library’s new LCD message board⤵️ A fun find at Homegoods! #schoollibraries

A Tale: Dark + Gritty 🕷️ See one my high school library’s book displays for readers who like the show 🖤💜Wednesday🖤💜 The font generator helped set the tone for the display⤵️