Galileo’s librarian has moved from state to state, and all across the SFUSD. Now at Galileo, she is devoted to helping students at her new school grow and develop in their love for reading.
EK started her teaching career in Houston, Texas where she is originally from, in the Houston Independent School District in 1995. She began as a middle school English teacher, teaching 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. During that same time, she was also a literacy coach, working with kindergarten through 6th grade students. After her decade-long stint in Texas, she moved to California for a change of scenery and began teaching English at Mission High School.
EK has had a passion for being a librarian from a young age, which influenced her decision to make the switch. “I’ve always been a library kid, even from quite a young age,” said EK. “I like books, I like to read. It’s part of what made me decide to be an English teacher.” She said that her passion started through local and school libraries, and that her lengthy career is a result of a lifetime passion that has been fostered by those that she has worked with and taught.
The path to become a librarian wasn’t easy, though. A teaching credential was the first step, but EK then got her Masters degree in Library and Information Sciences. Furthermore, to become a teacher-librarian, she needed a separate credential, which she spent more time in school acquiring.
This year is her 11th year as a librarian in SFUSD. She’s spent that time at four different schools, those being Creative Arts Charter School, Wallenberg High, Burton High, and now Galileo, which she was placed at.
Though she loved teaching, she appreciates the way being a librarian gives her more creative freedom. “It’s been very exciting to me to do teaching collaborations with teachers from all different subjects and grade levels at Galileo. Being a teacher is being a specialist in a subject, and being a librarian is being a generalist.” EK says that she has valued all of her collaborations, from science to history teachers.
“Having many years of experience as a teacher definitely has made me a great teacher-librarian,” says EK. Having had half of her career experience as a teacher, she began her work as a librarian both creatively and professionally prepared. “In a school, it’s required to be a teacher. Across all fields of teacher-librarianship, I think I’m good because I was a good teacher.”
