[This news release is shared on behalf of the Alaska Association of School Librarians. Congratulations to College Gate Elementary School Librarian Dona Helmer.]
The
Alaska Association
of School Librarians Announce 2013 School Librarian of the
Year
The Alaska
Association of School Librarians (AkASL) held their annual conference in Valdez
from March 22-24 and announced Dona Helmer of College Gate Elementary School in
Anchorage as the School Librarian of the Year. The School Librarian of
the Year is an award that has been given out annually since 1985. This
exemplary librarian promotes the development of independent lifetime readers
and learners, is an integral part of the educational team, and exemplifies
professional involvement by sharing expertise with colleagues both locally and
around the state. Each school year, administrators are encouraged to
nominate a school librarian who has been a help and inspiration to them and
their school.
Dona
Helmer, the 2013 School Librarian of the Year thinks outside the box by
teaching children that the entire world of information is their library.
The school library becomes a preparation for the real world where they learn
rules on how to find information, how to pose and answer questions, and are
allowed to explore. The library is not a place but a state of mind—
This
is a pretty hefty challenge for the students of College Gate Elementary
library. It is here that Helmer orchestrates her program. She has a
broad knowledge of the curriculum and facilitates cross-grade level
research. She collaborates with and supports teachers through targeted
instruction, gathering resources, and managing special programs.
Books
are a big part of Helmer’s life and students know this. She writes grants
so that she can give books to students to take home, and she often includes her
own money. Each year, Helmer creates a grade level summer reading list and has
the local children’s librarians visit and talk to students. She is always
trying to find ways to work with local public librarians.
At
College Gate everybody reads! Helmer brings in other people like the
janitor and lunch workers to talk about their favorite books as a child. She
wants every student to understand that reading is not just something you do in
school. Some of the reading programs Helmer facilitates to get students
to read are: Turkey Trot, Jingle Jog, Skype with an Author, Read to Some Bunny
Month, Pizza and Poetry Month, Research Counts Month, the Family Winter Reading
Club and much more.
At
the National Level, Helmer serves on the American Library Association (ALA)
Reference Books Bulletin Advisory Board and writes reviews for them. She
has been a member of both the Newbery and Caldecott Award committees, the most
prestiegious awards in children’s literature. This year she is running
for membership on the Siebert Award Committee for ALA. Helmer has served
on the International Reading Association’s book and poetry award committees and
the National Council for the Social Studies Carter G. Woodson history book
award committee.
Locally,
Helmer is a board member of AkASL and has served as member of the Battle of the
Books selection group committee for grades 3-4, is a board member on the Alaska
Library Association’s Authors to Alaska committee and is the vice president
of the Cook Inlet Literacy Council. In the Anchorage School
District, Helmer is a member of both the Library Resource Committee and the
Language Arts Curriculum Committee.
Helmer
is a master of making connections and gathering support. When a new
principal started at College Gate two years ago, she brought a copy of the
national school library guidelines, shared her annual library report and
outlined the potential library program. Principal Darrell Bernsten
states, “No other librarian has ever taken the time to explain twenty-first
century libraries and learners to me.”
Helmer
has plans and dreams for the library, but she doesn’t sit and wait. She
goes out and makes change happen. Congratulations Dona Helmer, AkASL
School Librarian of 2013!
Congratulations, DJ! As Beth says "My mom rocks!!!"
~later, tw
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