-Leslie Allman

If you haven’t been in an elementary school library in years, you might not recognize the place. No one hushes you as you enter. There’s no scent of library paste, no monstrous card catalogue, not much heavy antique furniture left. It’s a whole new world full of chatter, laughter, an occasional gasp or squeal.

In a world where kids are exposed to way too many clicks and swipes, librarians are more eager than ever to make sure kids get hooked on books, but most people are surprised to learn that an elementary school librarian is a fulltime teacher. I teach every student in the school. I teach them how to pick books, use materials and cite sources.

Our elementary school libraries now go well beyond that. They house makerspaces which allow students time to be the engineers and great thinkers we hope they are all becoming. They build, create, unravel, redo, invent and experiment. My students have constructed a ski slope on which they race the skiers they’ve designed out of old CDs. They program robots to shoot baskets during March Madness. They’ve made bee hotels and light-up bookmarks. Our projects often align with the curriculum, but mostly the makerspace is a wonderland of experimenting without fear of failure — or better put, a place where they learn that failure is an important step on the path to success.

Currently in my library, kids meet a couple of times a week to produce a cooking show aired on the morning announcements. They cook yummy, mostly healthy dishes for their viewers, but they also examine good food choices and responsible agricultural methods.

Last year a library project gave classrooms birdfeeders, and the entire school was involved in bird counts, identification challenges and learning how vital birds are to our planet. The year before it was a program that involved student research about the value of pollinators and the bleak future they face without our help. Students produced videos about pollinator conservation that were both hilarious and powerful.

The library has taught kids about geocaching to locate hidden targets around the campus. Annually, “wreath cycling” invites kids to create holiday wreaths made of trash. These projects were made possible with generous Virginia Beach Education Foundation (VBEF) grants funded by local businesses and individuals who know our kids need supplies, opportunities and inspiration beyond the daily curriculum.

Students are encouraged to try something new in the library. If it doesn’t fit, they feel free to try another — whether it’s a book or a building project or a new way of finding information. Even when they have class in the library, it’s lightweight compared to many of the tests and pressures they meet in the classroom. In that way, it’s the same library you loved years ago.

The only thing missing is that ever-intoxicating scent of library paste.

April is School Library Month. Leslie Allman is the library media specialist at Princess Anne Elementary School. She has been with Virginia Beach City Public Schools for more than 30 years.