Courtney Pentland will begin her role as the 2023–2024 president of the American Association of School Librarians following the official close of the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago on June 27. Pentland is a school librarian at North Star High School in Lincoln, Neb., and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Nebraska-Omaha school library program. She has served in the Nebraska School Librarians Association in numerous capacities including as president. She begins her AASL term as the profession faces the daunting challenges of book banning and other exclusionary legislative policies designed to restrict students’ access to materials. We spoke with Pentland about how she plans to support her fellow librarians—and encourage pre-service students—in this stressful time.
Can you talk about any goals you plan to focus on during your term as AASL president?
One of the things that I would like to harken back to during the next year is what I feel school librarians are really good at, and that is building relationships with all of the different people in their communities, whether it is students, staff, parents, administrators, or community members. That is one of the unique skill sets that school librarians develop and that we focus on in our graduate programs. But for people like me, who maybe went through their program a little while ago, the state of the world right now presents some distinct challenges in building relationships with various groups. I guess it’s about getting back to the basics. Considering how the world is now and the way that school librarianship is being viewed, and the narratives that are being provided by outside people, we need to look at ways we can go back to that basic idea of building positive relationships with all of our stakeholders.
Could you point to any highlights or memorable moments from your year as president-elect?
The focus on legislation and school policies and restriction of materials for students is obviously very front and center in many of our minds, whether we’re facing it currently, preparing for it down the road, or dealing with how to address things that have already happened. Those concerns are coloring a lot of how we approach our jobs. And one of the things that I think is a highlight of this time that we are in is the community of school librarians from across the country who are lifting each other up, who are sending notes of support, who are reaching out to people and asking “How can I help you?” or passing along resources—giving their time to share their personal experiences so other people can learn from where they’ve been, and so that we can grow together. The school library community is incredible. They are all so genuinely supportive and want to see each other do well. They’re very giving people. And I think that spirit in our school library community is really shining right now in the midst of all of the strife. I applaud and commend all the people who are lifting each other up and supporting each other through what none of us would have ever expected when we decided to do this profession.
In many ways, this is a stressful and frightening time to be a school librarian. What can you do in your role as AASL president to help the organization support members who are facing book banning and other types of challenges?
The very first thing that we do is listen. We listen to the members, we listen to other people who are sharing their experiences, because we’re here to serve all school librarians. But the thing that is difficult about where we are is that the playbook keeps changing. What we were experiencing and addressing a year ago is different today. I haven’t heard the word grooming for a while, but that was really prevalent about a year ago. We’re hearing a lot of the word pornography right now. The language and the nature of how people are sharing false narratives changes over time. And when we hear of something happening in one area, that can give us an idea of what might be coming in others. Because we see legislation, we see repeat policies, we see very similar tactics used across the country. So, one of the best things that we can do is listen to what is happening in the moment and try to work with our other groups like the [ALA] Office for Intellectual Freedom, other supportive organizations, and education associations, so that we can all support people at a point of need. That’s the most challenging thing right now: we don’t know what the next thing is until it happens and then you have to figure out how to address it, and that takes a little bit of time.
AASL partnered with ALA and OIF to do some free webinars this past February and March that talked about addressing some of the legislative and legal challenges that people were facing. I’m really proud that we were able to get that going. Our current president Kathy Lester and I have a crowdsourced document that we have shared in a few different places. It’s not official ALA or AASL stuff yet, because, like I said, it’s constantly changing. But we update the document with what people have shared with us, and we’re keeping all of that in one place and making it available for people if they’d like it. Because this is not a unique fight in Florida or Texas. It is something that many people are facing across the country, whether it’s in their own communities or through their state’s legislation. There are a lot of people who are affected, or will be at some point.
What do you see as the future of school librarianship? How is the profession evolving?
The last three years have taught me not to predict what could happen down the road. I did not realize I would be going through breast cancer treatment during a global pandemic—that was not on my life bingo card. So, one of the things that I am trying really hard to do in my personal and professional life is not to think five years in advance. But I am hopeful that at some point wiser heads will prevail and we will be able to get back to the joy of the school library.
Being a school librarian truly is one of the best jobs in the world. I get to work with every student in my building, every content area, every ability level. We have students who come and see us because this is their safe space and they know that they’ll be respected and treated well in here. We are the calm space that helps them with whatever life is throwing at them at that moment—and that is magical. Every student is welcome, and we are here for whatever they need from us.
I’ve read articles from the ’60s where librarians were frustrated that nobody understood what they did all day long. When I was in library school, what feels like eons ago, that was the same thing that people were frustrated about, and it’s something that I teach about in my graduate class. You need to be able to speak to what it is that you do so that other people understand. Because if they aren’t with you, 24-7, they don’t know all the little things that you do to support everybody in your school community. What I hope comes out of this is that there’s less mystery and more understanding of what the library does for kids, what a certified school librarian can do for their school community, and how both of those things in concert, when they are properly staffed and appropriately funded, can make such huge differences in kids’ lives.
I know we’re going to evolve with the times. We are the most adaptable and flexible people because we never know what the day is going to hold. So, whatever comes our way, we are prepared to handle it, or we will get ourselves prepared to handle it. We are great about finding our own professional development.
What is your advice for someone coming into the profession?
I teach at one of our graduate school library programs here in Nebraska and I work with pre-service librarians and people who are in their first year or two, and my biggest advice to everybody is that librarianship is a marathon, not a sprint. As you come in, don’t compare yourself to other people. Your journey is different from that of everyone else around you. Whether you’re in the same district as other school librarians or not, your school is different, and your students are different. You may have some commonalities, but we are all on different journeys headed in the same direction. Take your time and do the things that you are able to do. And the number one thing is to build relationships. Collaboration is building relationships. Funding sometimes is building relationships. Designing programming for students is building relationships. All of it comes back to that fundamental piece.
