Jami Lou thought her first job as a school librarian would quickly become a detour into her career as a classroom teacher.
But by the time I opened my own elementary school classroom in Chicago, I found myself missing the library and yearning to teach media literacy again.
So it was back on her bookshelf. Since 2010, Lou has served as the school librarian at Providence Englewood Charter School. Providence Englewood Charter School is a kindergarten through eighth grade school on Chicago’s South Side that serves primarily black and brown students from a community colloquially known as “Chirac.”
Although Lu didn’t initially think she would become a school librarian, she has grown to love the dynamism and variety of her job. She teaches a wide range of concepts including American Sign Language, critical thinking, typing, conducting research, and cursive writing. And on any given week, she can work with kids from preschool through eighth grade. This is a challenging but rewarding job.
“Being a school librarian is the biggest secret in education,” Lu says proudly. “You get to interact with everyone. It’s a reward.”
In addition to her work with students, Ms. Lu is also committed to collaborating with teachers, for example to help them pass on her own knowledge of media and information literacy to the learners they serve. We support you.
As part of our Role Call series, EdSurge has been spotlighting the work of the unsung school staff who shape children’s day, from school nurses to paraprofessionals and more. This time we feature school librarian and media expert Jami Lou.
The following interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

name: Jami Lou
year:48
position: chicago
title: School librarian and media specialist
Current age group: PreK-8
Years of experience in the field:twenty three
Edsage: How did you get here? What led you to your current role?
Jami Lou: I had never thought about working as a librarian until I went to a job fair in Chicago Public Schools. They were recruiting school librarians. I had a master’s degree in techniques for teaching elementary education. I’m more of a subscriber, reading magazines and newspapers, and occasionally reading novels and self-help books.
I was hired to be a school librarian, but I wanted to make a bigger impact by becoming a classroom teacher. So I told the principal that I wanted to leave the library.
She said, “Please stop.” I said, “No, I want to try harder.” I became a 4th grade teacher, and I looped through that 4th grade to 5th grade, and I said, “You know what? …I really need to go back to the library to do media studies and media literacy. ”But my principal had already hired a new school librarian.
So I quit, prayed, and found a job listing for an independent pre-K through 12th grade school on Chicago’s west side.
I was an assistant librarian for a librarian teacher. i love her Although she is retired, we still keep in touch. I learned a lot over the past year under her supervision and guidance, including how to think as a librarian, systems, curriculum, and relationships with colleagues. So she retired. The school’s principal said, “Well, we have a position for a school librarian at our kindergarten through eighth grade charter school.” That’s where I am now, Providence Englewood Charter School. I have been working here since 2010 as a school librarian and media specialist.
When people outside your school ask you what you do, for example at a social event, how do you explain your job?
My current mantra is, “I am a successful educator and businessman.” Boo. I am a second year doctoral student majoring in educational leadership. Boo. My focus is on charter schools, multiliteracy education, and school libraries. Boo. That’s what I’m doing.
So, you can’t necessarily say “I’m a school librarian”?
No, I’m an educator. I am taking school library classes, so learning the theory, pedagogy, and systems of actual school libraries is definitely part of my progress. Although I am not a fourth grade teacher, I do teach teachers, including some of my colleagues, of various maturity and age levels. I mean, I have lesson plans, I have unit plans. Yes, I’m an educator and a businessman.
What does a tough day look like in your role?
Kindergarten, 6th grade, 2nd grade, 8th grade, 5th grade, 4th grade, kindergarten, and 3rd grade in quick succession. That’s challenging. But that’s what I enjoy.
Although the schedule is fixed, no two days are the same. That suits my personality.
Can you explain what the challenges are when you think about serving different age groups during the day?
That’s differentiation. If you have 45 minutes once a week with students at very different learning levels and different accommodations and modifications, and you still need to plan and be able to make changes or modifications on the fly, then you need to Management is difficult. key. I think that’s what most teachers struggle with. Because if you can’t manage it, you can’t teach it. When control is strengthened or clarified, teaching becomes fun, enjoyable, and fluid, and you learn from your children and they learn from you.
What does a really good day look like in your role?
A really good day is when I can follow my lesson plan from start to finish and the kids can understand my content in 5 seconds. It’s a great day when my students are with me instead of against me. They are little humans, so they have feelings. They’re going through a lot of things. That’s why our relationship with them is so important.
One of the things I really appreciate about my school is that they expect me to know the kids’ names. It’s not just a “hey”. It’s not just a “sweet thing”. I’m Michael. This is Jelani. This is Torrance. This is Mr. Williams. It’s a first name, last name. So if the kids accept the relationship, that’s a good thing. And even when the teacher came to me and said, “I have a project.” How can I help you? Could you please sit down and meet me? ” Collaborating with colleagues also makes my day as a school librarian. Because we are fellow teachers.
I think that’s something that’s missing from conversations about education that include school librarians. I don’t know why we’re not thought of as educators, co-collaborators, and co-teachers, but that’s part of what we’re working on. do. We are information specialists. That’s right, when the kids cooperate and the teacher asks them to cooperate, it makes for a good day for me.
When you are working with children, do they spend most of their time in the library with you? What lessons do you introduce to them?
So today, we had 6th grade, 1st grade, and 5th grade classes come to visit us. In K-2, fingerspelling is integrated with American Sign Language to aid in letter recognition in books. Because the book contains the following characters: words that make up sentences. Therefore, you must be able to recognize these characters. As an educator, I know that the K-12 or preschool years are when foundational skills are developed. That’s why I use American Sign Language. Therefore, their arrival activity is to decipher messages using the different letters of the sign language alphabet.
I’ll read it to you. If you’re reading a story to them, you can also teach them about parts of the book by creating quotes. Because once they get to high school or college, they’ll need to write research papers that need citations. So research skills, basic skills, are part of that, and that relates to part of the book. Learn about titles, authors, publishers, and copyright dates.
I will also teach you typing. They are learning where letters and punctuation marks are located and how to use them. So from 3rd to 5th grade, we go back to language arts. Where are the keys on your keyboard? What do the various function and command keys represent?
I also teach the lost art of cursive. I tell my middle school students that they need to sign applications for high school, college, financial aid, and scholarships. When you become a boss, you have to sign checks. And a signature is not a print. If you’re going to agree to things after you’re no longer a child, you need to know how to sign your name in cursive. This is a skill that has been taken out of the curriculum, at least in Illinois, and I would like to get it back.
We also teach media literacy. I [recently] I approached two 8th and 6th grade social studies teachers to do professional development with me, teaching students how to decipher the world by leveraging media literacy and critical thinking across the curriculum. did.
Yes, some of the things I teach are information literacy, research skills, technology, how to use public libraries, ASL, cursive, and the Dewey Decimal System.
What are some unexpected ways your role shapes a child’s day?
On Monday, I was finishing up my 7th grade class and they lined up waiting for their teacher to pick them up. One of the girls says: Lou, I think you’re really hot. ‘I said, ‘What?’ Me? Why do I say that? thank you. but why? ‘She’s like, ‘You teach us things we never thought of and make things fun and interesting.’
It really warms my heart to see you paying attention to everything I bring. I express 360 degrees, 100 percent of myself in everything I say and do to you, and you understand that. And therein lies the surprise. You never know who’s paying attention. Children are paying attention, but are they really paying attention?
What do you wish you could change about your current school or education system?
I wish every elementary school and high school had a school librarian. I wish every school had a full-time certified school librarian. Whether you’re a charter school, traditional public school, private school, or independent school, you need a school library with a school librarian to support information literacy and be a thinking partner for teachers in the classroom.
I also wish my school would hold tighter to what really works for them and not let it go every year or every other year when new trends in education emerge. Don’t forget the good stuff just because there’s new stuff.
Your role will give you unique access and insight into today’s young people. What have you learned about young people through your work?
Young people want to trust you, but first they test whether you are trustworthy.