I know it’s been quite a year for many of us, and I am no exception. As I wrote last spring, my job was eliminated due to budget cuts. I got that news on Monday, March 9, and the schools closed that Friday. A few months later, I was hired to be the librarian at Rebecca M. Johnson, an elementary school in Springfield, Massachusetts that hadn’t had a librarian in years. It’s been an interesting year of buying books, inventorying the collection, weeding, and trying to connect with students and teachers remotely.

On the home front, I recently sold my house and will be moving to another town in July, where I’ll go from solo home ownership to sharing an apartment with two housemates. I’m excited about the changes, and am looking to celebrate both them and my recent Covid vaccination (I received my second Pfizer shot on April 1) by traveling this summer.

Which brings me to the real reason for this post. I’m pretty flexible about my travel plans, and would enjoy meeting new people and doing some library consultation. Are you interested in chatting with me about your school, public, or classroom library? Send me an email at akidsbookaday@gmail.com to let me know what you have in mind, and I will see if I can come up with a travel itinerary to include meeting you.

P.S. – Someone just emailed me and asked me what kind of consultation I have in mind. Here’s how I replied: I don’t really have an agenda about consultations…just looking to travel and meet people.  I’ve worked in 11 school libraries over the years, and have helped teachers weed and reorganize classroom libraries, so I’d be happy to visit your library, talk to you about what’s working and not working, and possibly share ideas about changes, suggestions for the collection, etc.

Also, this is definitely unpaid consulting. Although if you want to take me to lunch, I won’t say no.