One of our greatest joys at WiLS is hearing our members tell the stories of the big and important work they are doing – interesting new projects or initiatives, or even interesting and new approaches to old projects. And, in addition to hearing about it, it makes us even happier when we can share those stories with other members. Each month, WiLS is proud to feature an interview with one of our library members. This month, we interview Peg Billing, Library Media and Technology Specialist for the Tomahawk School District and WiLS board member representing K12 libraries.
If you have questions about this interview or want to suggest someone for us to interview, contact Andrea Coffin at acoffin@wils.org.
Why did you, personally, choose to work in libraries?
I love to read! I began my library career when my child was born and I realized that both my husband and I could not travel (for work) as we had done freely for the past number of years. My choice was to go back to school and obtain my master’s degree to enter into the field of education (my undergrad degree is in education and up to this point I had not taught in the classroom). Checking into degree programs at UW – Whitewater led me to the school library, obtaining my degree, and my future positions and passion for school libraries and the impact we make in the lives of young people.
What is unique about the culture of your library? How do you influence it?
I manage 3 libraries and each are uniquely different. Therefore the culture of each is reflective of the age of the students. The elementary school library is about learning to love to read and finding out what one likes to read, so the culture is centered on both fun and individual exploration while learning the basics of libraries and the many ways one can foster learning through books and technology. Middle school starts with fun in learning and exploring one’s interests to prepare for high school while learning to balance both enjoyment reading and increased demands of classroom reading. The culture then changes to reflect this educational shift while encouraging individuals to continue to read for pleasure (building the individual desire to read and explore through the library resources). The culture of our high school library is on the young adult and maintaining a desire to be a reader while meeting increased rigor demands to prepare young people in college and career readiness. The culture at all levels encourages and supports exploratory and self-directed learning to help students overall develop into responsible adults.
What do you think is important to know about the patrons or community you work with? What helps you understand those needs?
Working in the K – 12 environment is seeing learning daily; watching and influencing the future by helping students become problem solvers and supporting the community of K – 12 education. As a library media specialist in this environment I am able to explore and learn with students, understanding this element of the school library I think is important to running today’s school library media center. Yes, we check out many books for students to read; however, we also help students explore learning through a wide variety of mediums. My being open to new learning and a willingness to explore the world of learning is critical to the library patrons and the school community.
What big ideas are being worked on at your library? What problems are being solved?
The big ideas at our library’s are centered on students exploring learning and embracing their own learning by focusing on how they like to learn; facilitating a self-directed learner by offering and providing both a large variety of ways and means to learn – print and digital. Problems being solved are through our students and their educational experience that help the individual learn to sort and manage what is important in a world of information overload.