It's Official

Yesterday was the day...my dear friend, mentor and fellow librarian has announced her retirement. (I have to say my fingers are shaking a bit as I type this.)

She has been my rock and my inspiration for many years.

She has also been the face of technology in our district as her role of librarian has evolved. She pulled and prodded and drug our district from the dark ages of technology to a truly wonderful place - honoring those teachers who didn't, wouldn't or just couldn't with gentle prodding and amazing examples. She has been the diplomat and the behind the scenes worker - making sure the yearly District Tech Plan was finished, heading the District Tech Committee (chairing endless meetings both in the fun days when the money was plentiful and in today's absent budget), all the while pushing herself to present, teach, promote and purchase. She has made herself face her fears and presented tech info at conferences both local and national.

She changed the elementary schedule to flexible scheduling years ago to allow more project based learning. She developed a library curriculum for K-5 which included a technology infused research based activity long before districts realized this was an important thing. She collaborated with teachers before it was a buzzword and became Laura Ingalls Wilder before the blogosphere told us that was the way to teach.

She is the perfect example of a 21st century librarian - picking up skills and books and seamlessly weaving them into a presentation style that welcomes children to her.

And I will miss her infinetly.

Thank you for mentoring me, for encouraging me and for inspiring me!!!