Do you remember your school library? Maybe it was a place you sought out and loved or maybe it was just a place you had to visit to work on school projects. Christie Boen, IMESD’s new Library Media Specialist, is working to make school libraries in eastern Oregon great resources for students in the region.
The new position is funded by the Oregon Department of Education and administered through InterMountain ESD. The purpose is to support library staff in school libraries across eastern Oregon. Boen, who began her new job on July 1, said she thinks of the job as “supporting and helping build library programs throughout our region in order to best empower our students to be effective users and producers of information - not to mention fostering a love of reading.”
Services Boen offers for school libraries range from helping staff develop and manage their school’s media collections and collaborating on library lessons to creating book recommendation lists and supporting student research resources. Since IMESD’s districts span about 10,000 square miles, Boen works virtually with many of those she serves. “It’s been great to connect with library staff in the past few months and start determining what kind of support I can provide,” Boen said.
Boen started working as a Media Specialist in La Grande in 2006 and has worked in the field ever since. She has created a Library Hub page on the IMESD website that encompasses many resources, tips and newsletters that are open for anybody to use. “What I want students to realize is that libraries/media centers are here for them and can open a world of possibilities to them, even if reading is not their favorite thing to do!”
Christie Boen, Library Media Specialist
Library Hub on the IMESD website