The Unquiet Librarian

Who inspires you as a librarian?  I have been blessed to have many librarian mentors along the way as a child and as an adult.

Joy Mabry is someone who has been an inspiration to me for nearly twenty years now—I first met her as a barely twenty-something at our district teacher center, and she has been an unfailing source of support, encouragement, friendship, and wisdom.  She is an educator who has touched countless lives in the Cherokee County School District—she still has students from her days as an elementary school librarian who approach her with words of gratitude and thanks for what she did for them as their school media specialist.   I can only hope that I could have even an ounce of the positive influence on students as Joy Mabry has done and continues to do so even as I write this post.  If Joy were a library book, she would have been showered with every literary accolade and prize that one could win—she is definitely a Pulitzer  of a librarian!

Joy has especially been my “rock” the last few years as I opened my media center, and our patrons at Creekview High owe her a debt of thanks as she was an advocate of our media center (and still continues to be!!!) when our library barely had shelving in place.  I have also had the pleasure of interviewing her for a research project at the University of Georgia in which she shared her history as a reader and writer with me; I am hopeful she will let me eventually make that interview a live podcast you all can enjoy. 

When I think of people who have shaped me as a person and as a librarian, Joy is at the top of the list.  Her spirit, her wit, her boundless energy, her faith, and unwavering enthusiasm always make my day.  I am proud to be an “adopted” granddaughter to her and grateful she doesn’t judge me for my inability to change lamination film (she did this for me throughout 2006-07!).  Thankfully, my other qualities do make up for that flaw.   

I would like to publicly give a shout of thanks to Joy Mabry—friend, mentor, muse, librarian pioneer, maverick, and lifelong learner.

Today marks the debut of a new interface from YALSA!  Check out the welcome message from the blog!

Welcome to YALSA’s new blog. We changed blogging software (we are now using WordPress) and are working with an entirely new design. The new interface gives YALSA bloggers new features to make their blogging even better. This includes integration of tags, images, and links. Over the next few weeks we may make a few changes to what you see on the blog pages. The primary interface however is ready for public consumption.

To subscribe to the YALSA blog via RSS click on the Subscribe RSS link in the far-right sidebar. Or, simply put this URL, http://feeds.feedburner.com/yalsa_blog, in your RSS reader. You can also receive blog updates via Twitter by following YALSA at http://www.twitter.com/yalsa .

This blog is a valuable resource for librarians and teacheres who work with young adults and who love YA lit!  Surf over and explore the great new design!

YALSA via kwout

Have you ever thought about joining the world’s coolest profession:  school library media?  Are you looking to embark on a career that presents a new challenge every day?  How would you like to actually get paid to LEARN something new every day and be on the cutting edge of learning?   How would you like to join the ranks of those who are “unquietly” leaving an indelible mark on education?

If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, then check out the announcement below from the University of Georgia, the alma mater of The Unquiet Librarian and Georgia’s ONLY AASL accredited school library media program!  As a proud graduate of this program, I can assure you that you will receive top-notch preparation should you join this cohort of librarians in training! 

Hello,slmedia@uga.edu to see if space is still
available.http://www.coe.uga.edu/epit/slm/. Application
requirements and instructions can be found there as
well. Please call us at 706-542-3810 if you have any
questions or write to slmedia@uga.edu.

We are pleased to announce that we are now accepting
applications for admission into the eighth cohort of
the Flexible Delivery School Library Media Program
(SLM) at the University of Georgia. This program is
open to anyone seeking initial school library media
certification at either the M.Ed. or Ed.S. level;
non-degree certification is available for qualified
candidates. Students accepted into the SLM program
will begin their studies in the fall of 2008.

The program is designed to accommodate working
professionals through a combination of online classes,
evening classes, Saturday classes at the
University of Georgia Gwinnett campus, and summer
sessions. The first application deadline is February
1, 2008, so now is the time to apply.  Note
that the GRE is required. After February 1 please
contact

We have found that media specialists are among the
best marketers for the profession. If you know a
teacher (or anyone with a Bachelor¹s degree) whom you
believe would enjoy the challenges of this exciting,
service-oriented
profession, please encourage them to apply to our
program.

Information about the program can be found online at

Mary Ann Fitzgerald, Ph.D.
University of Georgia