Reflections of the Past and Present

Why I Belong to Professional Organizations

Recently, I was asked to write my reflections about the early days of the current Virginia Association of School Librarians (VAASL) which is celebrating 50 years. I started thinking about my years as an educator and why I joined and actively participated in professional groups both as an active and a retired educator.

I began working as a school librarian at the old New Market Elementary School in Shenandoah County in 1971 after graduating from Madison College that spring with a B.S. in Library Science and Elementary Education.  I lived in Harrisonburg and hadn’t even applied in Shenandoah County, but when SCPS contacted the MC placement office about library candidates, they got my name, I went for an interview and was hired!  New Market Elementary School had grades 1 – 7; there was no kindergarten in Shenandoah County until 1974.  Being the only librarian in a school can be an isolating experience; even though I was a teacher (teaching library skills and co-teaching with other teachers), I wanted to talk to other librarians.  At that time, the librarians in the school division didn’t meet together since we were in a small division and had no library coordinator (although we later started meeting together on our own.)  For the beginning of my career, we were “librarians;” later we became “library media specialists” and now it seems we’ve returned to “librarians.”  But we were always teachers.

Early on in my teaching career, I got involved with the Virginia Education Association (VEA) which works hard for active educators, and the School Library Department of VEA.  A teacher at my school (Patty Earhart) had an aunt (Louise Howe) who was an active VEA member and was looking for someone to represent the area in the VEA School Library Department. Later, I became president of the Shenandoah County Education Association (SCEA) and served two terms.   (Several professional groups with which I am associated, including the Virginia Retired Teachers Association, of which I am now president, started as departments in VEA.) 

I remember working with the VEA Department of Librarians board when it transitioned to become the new Virginia Educational Media Association (VEMA) in 1975.  VEMA started the VEMA regional and state conferences which were some of the only professional opportunities geared specifically to librarians.  A Shenandoah County colleague active in VEMA when I was, Sandra Huemann-Kelly, finished her library career in her native Iowa where she was named Iowa’s librarian of the year. 

VEMA offered grants and awards: I received the VEMA Rutherford Award grant in 1985 to study computerized library systems (and later implemented the first computerized library system in Shenandoah County at Ashby-Lee Elementary School.)  I received the VEMA Media Educator of the Year in 1992 and the VEMA Administrator of the Year in 2002.

In the 1980s, I worked on the VEA Committee to Study the Activities of the New Right.  We studied book banning, censorship, and other issues which seem to have come back full circle today.  Working together in professional groups is one way that educators can support one another in challenging times. 

I continued to work in the Virginia Education Association, serving from 1985-90 and 1991-97 on the VEA Board of Directors. I recall a presentation I did at the VEA Instructional Conference on “Using Bulletin Boards as a Teaching Resource” in which I had many slides of bulletin boards which were instructional.  I also served on the Appalachia Educational Laboratory Board from 1991-97 representing teachers in Virginia. 

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Library Media Standards Development Committee in 1997-1999 was another area in which I worked.  One of my Shenandoah County colleagues, Elsie Garber, was the first in the division to receive national certification. She finished her library career in Florida. 

As local SCRTA president and as a VEA Board member, I was a delegate to the National Education Association convention. One of the highlights over the years was speaking to the motion to allow librarians and guidance counselors to be eligible for Teacher of the Year awards, which passed! I am a life member of the retired educator groups VEA-R and the NEA-R; I continue to read and contribute to the excellent VEA Journal, edited by Tom Allen (who spoke to VRTA at the Spring Delegate Assembly; full circle moment!)

My memory isn’t always perfect, but I am happy to offer some reflections on working together through professional organizations as an active teacher and as a retired educator!  Being a lifelong learner is a passion!