LAUREN ELLIOTT

Whether it’s on her kindle, in her headphones, or in her hands, Ms. Elliott is always reading something! From Anne of Green Gables to Margaret Atwood, she takes us on the journey that took her from teaching to becoming a librarian.

Tell us about a book you read growing up that influenced the person you are today?

As a Canadian, it would have to be a Canadian choice, probably. My grandmother had gifted me a box set of Anne of Green Gables, the whole set. It was probably the first mature, older kid book that I ever read, and it was meaningful to me because it's a Canadian book, but also takes place on the east coast of Canada, where my family is from. I always loved reading historical fiction, and I always loved reading books about people's stories. That really was interesting to me.

When did you realize that you wanted to make your love of books a career?

I was a teacher first. And I really enjoyed teaching, but I've always loved libraries. I've always loved reading. I knew I wanted to work in education, but I didn't know exactly what was the right spot for me. I did my Masters in Library Science and realized that it really was the career for me. I can't imagine doing any other job. It really is what I love.

How do you engage students and how do you nurture their love for books?

So one of the things I think that helps is that I have a true love of books and reading. And I think that comes through in my conversations with students. If they need recommendations, or they just say “I finished this series, what should I read next?”, I always have an idea ready to go. I always have a print book on the go and an audiobook on the go. I'm always consuming a lot of young adult literature and adult books too, so I always have recommendations ready for kids. I also think it's really important that we have a really diverse collection in the library, because I really want students not just to see themselves in the books that we have in our library, but I want them to learn about others through the books that we have in our library. Our collection represents a real diverse set of characters, topics, themes. And I think that that's really important in a library.

Let's talk about the role of libraries in the digital age. How do you stay relevant, as opposed to the more traditional image that libraries tend to have?

Our library, the SFS high school library, definitely exists in two spaces. We exist physically and in print. There’s this space where kids are coming to study or work with friends, and borrow physical books, but we also exist online. We have a really excellent selection of online databases and resources, we have a huge collection of ebooks and audiobooks, so kids can access information, whether they're here in the library, or they're at home. And that's really important, not just for their time here in high school, but also they'll continue to consume online information when they leave here and go to university, or they're adults, so it's good that they can have that access while they're learning here.

What's your preference? Print, Kindle or audiobooks?

I think that reading is reading and whether that is consuming a book in print, or audiobook or ebook, I think it's all reading, especially at this age when kids are in high school or into adulthood. As for me, I always have an audiobook on the go. I think it's a really great way to consume stories. If I have a book in a print copy, then I'll read it that way. I also read on a digital reader. So I just read in lots of ways.

A hard question. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?

So hard! I'm a big fan of dystopian books. And I'm also a big fan of Canadian authors. So probably something by Margaret Atwood. She's probably my favorite author. So… something by Margaret Atwood?

In your opinion, what's the most valuable lesson or skill that students can gain from the time spent in the library?

I hope that they develop a love of reading. They have access to an amazing collection, from elementary all the way up to high school. One of the things that we're also working on is understanding how to find reliable sources of information, and also how to use that information in an ethical way. And that's a skill that I think they need not only while they're here at SFS, but into university and also into adulthood. Now that we're consuming more of our information digitally, we need to really understand what information is correct and true. And then we need to pass that information on and in a positive way.

How do you choose new books to bring to the library? What's the process?

I take into consideration a lot of different things when I'm ordering. It's a big part of my job. I'm always asking for suggestions from parents, from teachers, from students, because I want the collection to be what they want to read. So that's one part. I also spend a lot of time reading reviews of books, and I have a few sources that provide reviews for new books, so I use that as well. Then I want the collection to reflect what's happening in the classroom. I want there to be curricular connections to the units of study or the lessons that they're doing in the class. I want them to be able to extend that learning by borrowing books that they can read.

What advice do you have for students who are considering this as a career?

I think that being a librarian is a great job for somebody who not only has a love of reading and books, but also likes to work with other people. I really think that we provide a service in the library to help others find answers to questions, to help find information that they need. I also think it’s for people who are curious, because every day I'm asked a question about something that I don't necessarily know the answer to, but together with the person who asked, we need to work to find the answer. I love working in schools, so being a teacher librarian is perfect for me, I get to work with students, and I also get to work within a library setting. It's the best of both worlds. So I think that students who want to do that as well would find it interesting.