Putting the wind in an author's sails

 

Unless you are Charlotte Danielson or Doug Lemov or Alfie Kohn, your odds of becoming a "famous" educational author are pretty much slim to none. I would guess that most of who write professionally do it for reasons other than celebrity (See Why I Write for Professional Publication.) And I am just fine with that.

But every once in a while, it's wonderful to be made to feel like a bit of a celebrity, and that's what happened last Wednesday evening. A group of librarians in the Chicago Public Schools used my The Indispensable Librarian, 2nd ed, for their book study and I was their "culminating activity." I Skyped in and participated in a little stump-the-chump Q&A session. I blew the question about the best source for teaching citing an online reference, but other than that...

The follow-up e-mail was one of the most thoughtful thank-you notes I ever received...

Thank you sooooo very much Doug! You were extraordinarily delightful and insightful. Our group has enjoyed every chapter of your book. Your Skyping session was certainly the highlight of our club. Thank you for being so generous with your time and knowledge. My colleague Colleen designed the adorable "I'm Indispensable" nametags which truly capture the way we feel about librarians and library programs in Chicago. One of our Indispensable Librarians, Katherine, chose the quote below as her favorite:

 “Indispensable librarians are leaders,and leaders share knowledge and visions. You cannot lead your school community, you cannot guide others in new and emerging information and communication landscapes if you yourself are not a continuous learner” (Johnson, 182). This quote reflects this professional book club - we all joined together to continue to learn, reflect, and share with each other.

Thank you for everything!

 

I've grumbled in this blog before about how long, difficult, and tedious writing a book-length publication is. I worry that I spend to much of my leisure time behind a computer screen writing instead of being more active and diversified in my hobbies (golf? making fishing jigs? burglary?). I truly wonder if what I have say in my writing has actual value and if I should turn thinking about libraries and education and technology over to younger and better minds.

So thank YOU CPS librarians for putting a little wind back in my sails. If I write another book it is all your fault.

Comments

[Linda Wangsness]

Loved the $3400 Piece of Chalk!
As an art teacher, I mourn the loss of my chalkboard and how easy it was to demonstrate certain techniques.
The use of a whiteboard and slippery markers, really tests my excellent artistic knowledge and talents. I often apologize (more like complain) for the poor representation of my examples.
But, I do love my overhead projector and the ability to resource the Internet. In a moment, I can expose my students to a world of art experiences, artists, demonstrations, ideas and so much more.
Linda

[Doug Johnson]

Thanks, Linda. I appreciate the perspective. I come from the days of this being done with books in an opaque projector!

Doug