These teacher librarians recommend books to kids K-12

MARION — A love of reading is what drew Marion Independent School District teacher librarians Liz Pearson and Stephanie Hoppenworth to the profession.

As Iowa schools become increasingly scrutinized under a new Iowa law that prohibits books that include descriptions or depictions of defined sex acts from public school libraries, Pearson and Hoppenworth are focusing on teaching library information literacy, which is how to find, evaluate, and use information effectively to discover new knowledge, solve problems, make decisions and become more informed members of society.

Pearson, who initially planned to be a secondary social studies teacher, said as a teacher librarian she saw a future where she could read books for a living and help students do “fascinating research” for their classes.

Some lesser-known aspects of the job include teaching the youngest learners how to find books they’re interested in and how to treat books well.

For example, keep the books dry, keep them away from infant siblings and pets, don’t color in the books, don’t eat food around the books and hug the books while walking to not drop it.

Hoppenworth and Pearson also spend a lot of time reviewing their book catalogs, removing books that are no longer relevant — like a book about how to use computers from the early 2000s — and books that haven’t been checked out many times.

The two teacher librarians make contact with about every preschool through 12th grade student in the Marion Independent School District, dividing their time between the six school buildings. There also are library associates in each school building.

Frequently, they do “book talks” in English classes to give students ideas for new books they might be interested in.

Pearson said to be better able to recommend books to her students, she frequently walks around the schools’ libraries to familiarize herself with the books and reads books on the Iowa Children’s Choice Awards list, which are voted on each year by kids and teens.

“I love sharing books with kids when it comes down to it. I love when you get a book and getting that into students’ hands because you know they’re really going to like it,” Pearson said.

The library also is where some students begin exploring computer science. This is a newer requirement for Iowa schools since Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law House File 2629 in 2020, which required, for the first time, that K-12 schools provide computer science instruction.

Last fall, schools were required to offer at least one one-semester computer science course in high school. This year, the state requires middle schools to provide high-quality computer science in seventh or eighth grade and in at least one grade in elementary school.

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Hoppenworth, who was a technology and computer science teacher in the Adel-De Soto-Minburn Community School District in Adel before coming to Marion this year, said librarians are finding ways to support classroom teachers in this work.

They are developing a computer science curriculum for early elementary students right now, focusing on computational thinking, the process of identifying a clear, defined, step-by-step solution to a complex problem.

For example, students navigate a book character through a grid, coming up with an algorithm using up, down, left, right and pause until they reach the character’s conclusion.

Sometimes the students work with robots called Bee-Bots — rechargeable robots with black and yellow stripes designed to look like bees. Other times they write the algorithm — the step-by-step instructions — on a piece of paper and work through it together as a class.

Hoppenworth said as a former technology teacher, she’s enjoying learning more about books for children at every grade level.

“I teach kindergarten in the morning and high school in the afternoon,” Hoppenworth said. “I’m seeing kids at every stage and able to talk about books with all of them.”

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