Linda is the Head Librarian at Valley Christian Schools (2,300 JH/HS Students) in San Jose, CA. She has been a member of ACL since 2013.
Describe yourself using a book title: I have Great Expectations: I have great expectations of myself and what I would like to see accomplished in our library. But I also have great expectations of our students whom I know achieve goals beyond what they can imagine when led and directed by our Lord. And I have great expectations of our God to do great things in and through us all here at VCS, as we surrender to Him, His ways and His will.
What’s the best thing about being a librarian? By far, the best thing about being a librarian is simply helping others. I love assisting our students in finding good engaging books to read that will leave them thirsting for more, but I am also passionate about teaching research and information literacy as an academic and life skill. We have been a 1:1 digital learning school for seven years in Silicon Valley. Most students have been raised with technology, Siri, and Google, many of whom have parents who work in the high tech industry. They are truly surrounded by technology 24/7 and the quick pace of life driven by that technology. I was reminded of their culture earlier this year when wandering about a 6th-grade class for which I’d just given database search instruction, and I heard some students advise classmates to “just ask Siri” for online solutions to their research needs. I am sobered by the key role God has given me to do my part to train this generation in quality research to ensure our graduates are well-prepared for college and information literate for life. I am also humbled to lead this library under our Lord’s direction, one that our students find friendly, welcoming, and helpful.
What are you currently reading? (Assigned reading for my MLS coursework!) If I could read, it would be either Media, Journalism and “Fake News” by Amy M. Damico for instructional purposes or Love Kindness by Barry H. Corey.
Describe ACL in three words: Welcoming. Encouraging. Supportive.
How do you (or How have you), as an academic librarian, contribute to your campus? As the only instructional librarian on our site, I teach quality research and information literacy in our junior high and high school classes. I also orient our high school seniors each spring to the library website of their intended college or university, my last effort and sendoff to encourage them to use the library resources – including staff – once they are in college.
I began my career as a librarian…when I was a child playing library in my room, putting bibliographic “Date Due” cards in the front of my books and checking them out to my imagined patrons. Much later in real life, I worked in a branch of San Jose Public Library while I attended San Jose State University. Upon graduation, with my Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Relations, I worked in hospital P.R. and later, high tech marketing. Returning to the workplace after being a stay-at-home mom, I started working in Valley Christian’s Skyway Library in the Fall of 2006. I am presently pursuing my MLS through the University of North Texas.
What do you value about ACL? Along with the wealth of knowledge and expertise shared through the listservs and the camaraderie that exists among all ACL librarians, I deeply value ACL as being a Christian librarian association. School librarians who are Christians generally have only loose, informal contact at best, and quickly find some of our beliefs and thus practices are quite different from our non-Christian counterparts in established school library associations. ACL is a refreshing supportive association of like-minded professionals who seek to honor our Lord in every area of our lives and practice.
How were you introduced to ACL? I found it through a Google search!
How are you or have you been involved in ACL? I have been blessed to be able to attend and participate in the Annual Conference for the past three summers where I have met fantastic people and learned valuable skills to instruct research and information literacy, maintain a library website, manage a library and its staff, and so much more. Together with others, I proposed the K-12 School Librarians interest group which is now established and getting off the ground this year.
Do you have any specific interests in the library world? Research and information literacy.