15 minute read
Dominique Cooper
Interview & Photography by You have a bachelor’s degree in Library and Information Science. What is it that intrigues you so much in the world of books? Ha, ha! The world of books! I like how you put that. I am intrigued because books are just that, a world! Amina Touray Just as our world has so many different places, cultures, climates, and traditions, it is the same with books. I can travel to London and learn about the holocaust, through the eyes of a twelve-year-old girl, with a club foot (The War that
Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker); I can experience how a young Black girl from the South Side of Chicago becomes the first African American First Lady of the United States of
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America (Becoming by Michelle Obama); I can feel the chill of winter snow as I read about kids having a snowball fight after a heavy snowfall (Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats); I can even go on an adventure and watch my favorite Disney characters battle their archnemesis (The Land of Stories by
Chris Colfer).
Books take me to places I wouldn’t otherwise see or experience.
But to be perfectly clear, Library and Information Science (LIS) is about so much more than books. The library is the hub of information literacy. Information literacy is about researching, recognizing, and thinking critically about the tough questions people ask. I learned (and teach others) how to seek out, evaluate, and apply information to best answer a question.
Oftentimes, one might think, “You’re a librarian! You must know everything!” And that is not the case (giggle). Librarians know how to research and find the answer or get you pretty close to it.
My degree also helped me understand that there are different types of people in the community that I serve that have different needs. My absolute favorite book is, Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper. Ms. Draper writes about a girl named Melody who cannot walk or speak but Melody is brilliant and the
smartest in her class. But, since she cannot talk, nobody knows it. As a librarian I am able to provide people like Melody with a safe space to dig deeper into a topic or craft that interest only them. That is what intrigues me along with the world of books, hehe.
How has 2020 been for you as a middle school librarian? It has been the most challenging. Back in the spring, when schools first shut down, I was totally out of my element. I started recording myself reading books so that I could send the recording to students who may not have access to a book. I later learned that there are publishing rights and rules, so I could not share out the content. I reached out to teachers to see what was going on in the curriculum and created virtual lessons and activities to support and extend classroom learning. I later learned teachers were overburdened trying to cultivate online lessons, so they didn’t have time to share what I was creating. I worked hard on projects that were basically shelved. Over the summer, the school district I work for, worked overtime to get laptop devices into student hands before August. It was coined the 1:1 initiative. They took a three-year plan and slammed it into a few months. The library is now responsible for checking laptops in and out, some troubleshooting and we create the help tickets when a technical issue is reported. One of the biggest tasks of the library at the beginning of the year is textbook distribution. Due to COVID-19, new plans and procedures had to be implemented in order to adhere to social distancing and crowd control. I found myself returning to a whole new set of textbook procedures that I had not had a voice in setting. Amina, can you imagine being hired for a photoshoot and when you get there, someone else is telling you what lighting to use, where you should stand or how to pose your model? It is like your craft is being taken from you. I believe one of my duties is to help with the recognition of library value by cre-
“One of my duties is to help with the recognition of library value by creating a solution driven space “
ating a solution driven space (A Principal’s Secret Weapon: The Librarian, Mason). The school library must operate like a well-oiled machine having the ability to transform into a gathering place for a lastminute administrative meeting, a place where teachers can bring classes to learn about research databases or learn library skills through scavenger hunts, or a place students can play Minecraft or Roblox as a reading incentive (they do in my library, smile). Overall a place to create, think and share. If I may share that in February 2020 the students and I curated our schools’ very first African American History Museum. The library partnered with multiple teachers and classes and students created individual as well as class projects to put on display. It was amazing! When the librarian is at the forefront with the best intentions for the students, it will be the busiest and buzziest place on campus. It will be staff and students first go-to. Yes, 2020 has shifted these plans and goals, but I have faith that God is taking the library somewhere beyond compare and if I can be a part of it, I can and I will, with all my heart. I love being a librarian. In today’s digital age, social media seems to be the new “news outlet” and people read their books through Kindle and various apps. Are hard copy books “dying”? I have no problem with reading from a kindle and I absolutely love and recommend audio books. I think the digital age has ex-
panded the opportunity to read more books, on more diverse topics on more platforms. It’s great. I do not think hard copy books are dying. Books are very much alive, no matter the format. I always tell everyone, “The library is the loudest place you’ll ever be.” This is true because there are so many different stories being told through these books. There are hundreds of thousands of voices coming through the books in a library. Speaking, yelling, laughing and crying to be heard. They are connecting and conversing. And if a reader is not connecting to a book, then they may not have the right one. “Social media seems to be the new “news outlet”, this frightens me. There is so much fake news out there. It is a part of my job to educate patrons on how to spot fake news. I attended a library conference where we were given multiple tools, such as Common Sense Media, to instruct patrons on how to determine if a website is clickbait or if an article seems sketchy and full of opinion more than fact. Again, Library and Information Science is so much more than books, hehe. We seem to live in a society and time that gets busier and busier, and it seems hard for people to
either find the time or actually make it a priority to read. Do you agree/disagree? And, how can we encourage the younger generation to read more? I totally agree. Can I tell you something that may blow your mind? I do not enjoy reading. My go to for relaxation is not to cuddle up on the couch with a good book. I like arts and crafts. I like to sew, crochet, make invitations/clothes anything using my cricut. The biggest misconception about me being a librarian is that I love to read. I come from, what we call, a reluctant reader background. A reluctant reader is someone who doesn’t like to read. I probably only went to my middle school library once or twice, same in high school. I didn’t grow up visiting the public library. I am also a mother of two daughters and a wife. My life is very busy and the moment I have time, I mostly do not choose to read. One of my favorite authors is Jason Reynolds. He was named the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by Carla Hayden, the first African American Librarian of Congress (my hero). A class actually curated an exhibit for the museum surrounding her and when I tweeted about it, she tweeted back! I was floored! I highly recommend you watch the inauguration ceremony of his award on youtube. His interview speaks volumes about the importance of literature and young people reading. Anyway, Jason Reynolds said, “It’s not that you don’t like to read, it’s that you haven’t found the right book.” He also said, “In order to write what kids will read, you have to connect with them.” So, it’s all about getting the right book in the hands of the right student. We can encourage young people to read by asking a student what they are interested in. Once I find out what they are interested in, I take them to the shelves and we start browsing for a specific book, just for them. I like to compare book genres to movie genres for students. I tell them, “Not everyone likes every genre of movie. But just because one doesn’t like horror films
doesn’t mean one doesn’t like all movies. We have to watch a comedy, a romance, a drama; books are the same, we have to read a comedy, a romance, a drama and eventually a student will find the book they enjoy. My husband shared an interview with me featuring Naval Ravikant and he said something that stuck with me. He said that reading is the way to knowledge. He said, “read what you love until you love to read.” One cannot learn if they do not read. He said one must start with the basics and work their way up. So, I encourage young people to read the basics of what they love and let that book lead them to the next. I encourage young people to read the comic book or the picture book or a small chapter book before trying to dive into a five-hundred-page book. Since reading is not my forte, I love it when I finish a good book! It gives me the feeling of accomplishment, as I am sure it does everyone. And what do we naturally want to do when we accomplish something? Accomplish something else. I also would like to point out that I don’t finish every book I start. If a book is not interesting to me, I put it down. I do not recommend a person continue reading a book they are not getting anything out of. Reading is growing on me. I feel that since reading is not the most popular hobby, students can relate to me and I to them. I understand the disdain when I am checking out Lord of the Flies to a class of 8th graders, or The Lightning Thief to a class of 6th graders. Both books I started and have yet to finish, hehe. My job and it is very important to me that I get to interact with these same students and encourage them to read what they want. Jason Reynolds also said something along the lines of “some adults don’t like kids because they only see them at school when they are forced to do things, they don’t want to do all day”. He suggests to “really get to know who they are”. Working at a middle school, the library is the last place on most students mind but what we fail to realize is that the library is probably the only place where true growth is occurring. It is the only place on campus where students are growing by doing what they want to do! Students are exploring their interests and collaborating with others to learn and grow. How do you feel about 2021 and what are your goals for this new year? I am the Event Coordinator for the Network for Inland Empire School Librarians. NIESL is an organization focused on helping librarians discover their potential. We hold virtual meetups and discuss library topics during this open-ended conversation. We will be hosting our first, Grow With Us, which is a conference style event to learn a new method or principal. My goal is to focus on supporting this network so that we provide the best resources to those invested in the library field. As the Event Coordinator, I create the marketing campaigns, handle all scheduling and ensure proper records of all events, meetings and discussions are maintained. I look at every new year and set a personal goal. 2020 I learned about bible journaling and hand lettering. 2021 I would like to become a Montessori Educator. My oldest daughter, who now attends the middle school I currently work at attended a Montessori private school. My youngest daughter currently attends. I love the approach that Montessori takes on education. They educate the whole child. They focus on social development, sensory, fine motor skills and more. I love being with my children during the most crucial parts of their day, their school day. Since I will have spent the past three years with my eldest at school, I want to do the same with my youngest. So, this year my goal is to go back to school and become a trained teacher and ultimately get a job working at my youngest daughter’s school.
When it comes to books in 2021, Dominique has a list of recommendations for you! So, as I mentioned earlier it is important to read books that interest you. Finding the right book for you is essential to en-
joying the time you spend reading. Also, please keep in mind that as a middle school librarian I mostly read from the Young Adult section. I hope these recommendations appeal to you whether you are an adult or child and whether you like to read or not. 1. If you like adventure, you will love this six-part series, The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer. In this book, my imagination was able to travel to whimsical places where magical things were happening. 2. If you are interested in civil rights and social justice, Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson will have you fighting for the efforts of equality, prison reform and police brutality. I was appalled at what I read, I felt sadness and I felt inspired by the authors fighting spirit for justice. Any book that brings out my inner hero is a must read. I read the adaptation for young adults, but the adult versions is also available. 3. In Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper, we are given a glimpse into the mind of a ten year old girl named Melody. While reading this book, I could feel her perseverance to voice her ideas from a body that wasn’t capable. Melody is my all-time favorite character because she is underestimated but comes out victorious, which is what I wish for anyone I know. 4. Another must read is The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer L. Holm. As a science fiction lover, this book poses a scientific question and through research, teamwork and unexpected surprises a young girl learns that her grandfather has discovered the fountain of youth. 5. I have read A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park to every English Language Learner for the past two years. This is a personal story about being forced from your native land and language and having to adapt to a whole new set of cultural norms. For anyone struggling to get into the hob-
by of reading, this book is great because at the end of every chapter you are either left feeling hopeful or anxious to find out if the downside will be turned to the upside. 6. If you love romance, please read If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson. It is a young romance but while reading it all I could think about were the characteristics I love about my husband. It reminded me that when we meet that special someone, we know instantly that we love them and this book had me fall in love with him all over again. 7. And finally, any book written by Jason Reynolds is a must read, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You , As Brave as You, All American Boys but if I had to choose one to spotlight it would be A Long Way Down. I was astonished to read a 200-page book that takes place in only sixty seconds. I also love any book written in verse. Being a reluctant reader, I find one can get through this format style quickly while not missing out on quality.
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Dion Langley’s
Beat It Like A Drum: Professional Drummer Dion Langley’s Fight Against Lupus
Written by Mia Nicole
As an independent professional drummer, Dion Langley has worked with some of the biggest names in music. However, when he became sick and ended up hospitalized while on tour, his bandmates had no idea that he had been diagnosed with the autoimmune disease, Lupus. Thought to be a disease that only affects women (usually between the ages of 15-45) research has shown that out of every 10 people who have lupus, only 1 is a male. And some males that have it are too embarrassed to admit it. Yet, Dion decided that he wanted to be a voice for men with lupus and became an advocate. What is lupus and does it affect men differently than it does women? We spoke with Dion about his career as a drummer who suffers from lupus and how he intends to “beat lupus.”
