Tamara Ballard

Task 5: Interview
Lancaster High School

High School Library Media Specialist Interview #3

Kathryn Nutt is the current media specialist at Lancaster High School for Lancaster Independent

School District in Lancaster, TX. She has been a media specialist for over 24 years, but 5th year

at the high school. Before becoming a teacher, she taught for 3 years, because her goal was to

get her masters in Library Science and not to be a classroom teacher. Ms. Nutt’s past job

experiences have directly prepared her for her position. Before she came to the high school, she

was at the public library in Lancaster for 10 years. Therefore, she has a lot of experience before

coming to the district. Working in the public library has prepared her from all different aspects

such as collection development, processing, reference, and customer service. Prior to that she

had public service experience working with the public. She chose to pursue a degree to become

a media specialist when she was a young mother. When her daughter was in kindergarten, she

would volunteer to work in the library one day a week. The day she was there she knew that this

was what she was supposed to do. Kathryn went from part-time to full-time, then made the

decision to get a degree. Then she pursued her bachelor’s degree and later received her teaching

certification from Texas A&M. Ms. Nutt received her masters at Texas Woman’s University,

but the end goal was a master of Library Science. The School Library Media Specialist came

about because she had children. It may sound corny to her, but she wanted to be home during the

summer with my children too.

 Her educational preparation has given her the boost to becoming a school librarian. She

worked at a public library in Lancaster for 10 years. She has my bachelor’s degree from Dallas

Baptist University, and her teaching certificate from Texas A&M with the focus on reading.

Then her masters at Texas Woman’s University. There were many things she wished she’d

learned, but since working at a public library she had the experience when it came to the school.

She believed she had the experience, which was an advantage. One thing that did catch her by

surprise was that she didn’t learn was that she had 6th-8th graders and it was the focus of my

collection. She did not have a wide range of books collection. Based on what they were learning

in the classroom, Ms. Nutt realized that I didn't have a well-rounded collection like she did in the

public library.

She has experience with cooperative program planning and cooperative teaching. She

has done some co-teaching and it’s difficult a lot of time to get folks to collaborate. They want

her to come down to their classroom because they are so busy, busy, busy. Kathryn has had

teachers come down to the library and they have taught lessons together. She remembers that it

was a really good experience. In elementary, she did activities such as Dr. Seuss with different

centers.

In order to develop a strong team approach with others she would plan activities with the

teacher. Students in other classes would ask me why they were not doing that, and she would tell

them that their teacher did not plan this activity with her. So, the students would ask their teacher

and Ms. Nutt would teach their class in the library. That is how she would get reluctant teachers

as well. She noticed over the years that she had more luck with 1-year teachers because they

were new and needed extra support. She would tell them to come to the library and they could

do different things. Ms. Nutt sees the role of the library in the overall reading program of the
school as the resources and support for the reading instruction. She would support the teachers

in different ways. In her view, the teachers would have the standards that they wanted to teach

and her role was to support the teachers with resources. She does her best to encourage reading

at the high school. Kathryn admits that she has a very low circulation in the media center and

her collection is very old.

When it comes to promoting appreciation and interest in the use of resource center

materials, she has done a wide range of activities like makerspaces to get the kids into the

library. She admits that it has nothing to do with reading and resources, but what she found out

over the years is that she has a campus of low readers. The media specialist has to get students

into the library somehow, so she would have games, puzzles, and makerspaces to get them to

come in. Once they get in here, she can get them to read a book. There may be children that

come into the library every day and never check out a book, and then one day the student would

ask if they could check out a book. For example, she would tell a student that he can check out 5

or 6 books if he wanted to. She would share materials with teachers via email, look at their

lesson plans, and try to help them. With storytelling and story reading, Ms. Nutt would just

approach the teacher at the elementary level. One time she scheduled with the art teacher and

they would do a reading lesson in the library. Afterwards they would go to the art room and

continue on with the lesson with the focus on art. She has book talk with small groups. Kathryn

would send out emails and try to keep her webpage updated. She has limited technology devices

and equipment in the library. A quiet area for students to work is not what she has in her media

center.

Ms. Nutt recalls having good experiences teaching professional development. There are

times when she is not included to host a professional development on campus because there is so
much that teachers have to do during pre-planning. When she is included there are other

important professional developments that teachers will select first, so her turnout has been very

low. She has done professional developments with departments on campus. The media

specialist has hosted professional developments and presented at TCA a couple times along with

TCCA down in Aldine, TX. The first time I was very nervous, but she believes she has

experience organizing and hosting professional developments. Ms. Nutt continues her

professional growth, and likes to do them online. She attended conferences such as the Texas

Library Association Conference and the TCEA for computer educators. She looks for things

other than the library. For example, she has some Sphero robots, so she went to a professional

development about Sphero robots. She shared what she learned with the ELA and Social Studies

teachers to give them support in the classroom.

She would create an inclusive space where diversity and equity are valued, because

everybody is welcomed in the library. Ms. Nutt does not tolerate anyone picking on anyone.

Regardless of their personal views and personal perspective, she does not tolerate any

misbehaving. Students might get picked on outside of the library, but the media center is a safe

inclusive space for everyone. Students know that the library does not have that many rules and

expectations, but the few that are there they have to follow.

The media specialist tells students that she is not a censor, but a big believer in age

appropriate. She tries to target those materials that are emotionally appropriate for the high

school level for instructional materials and support. Due to reading levels, she does her best to

have a variety of reading materials. She really watches to make sure that she stays away from

those things that look elementary. Ms. Nutt has books for every reading level due to her school’s

Language Arts data. She bought a set of “A Diary of a Wimpy Kid” because the kids still
wanted to read them. They even asked for “Goosebumps'', and told them this was

“Goosebumps'' for high school kids. Kathryn checks out more of those books than you can

imagine. She tries to have materials in different formats such as digital format. There is Access

360, a digital collection, where students are able to read books on their reading level (elementary

level). Some elementary books are of “Junie B. Jones. The high school library also has access to

Tumblebooks for audio. She shared this with the foreign language teachers such as Spanish and

French. She believes that if you are learning how to read another language, then a storybook

would be nice to check out. In regards to representing multiple perspectives and varying points

of views, she provides information for all populations for my students.

There was so much information I learned from interviewing Ms. Nutt. When I become a

media specialist, I will have knowledge and would network after attending state or national

school library conferences. I would attend many webinars due to the pandemic to continue

learning in this field. I would maintain updated books on my shelves and weed the old collection

and books that have not been circulating in years. I would use my knowledge of being a teacher

and stay current with what the students are into such as graphic novels and comic books. She

shares so much knowledge about supporting teachers and specials teachers (art, P.E., and music).

My perception of the school library media specialist profession is to maintain current. Keep a

line of communication with the teachers and host professional developments for the campus or

different departments. I would research resources to use to further learning opportunities for

students. In conclusion, Ms. Nutt shared a lot of information I would take into my future of

becoming a media specialist.