Sunflower Elementary School librarian Amanda McCoy was named Kansas School Librarian of the Year for her work to make the school library a hub of teaching, learning and reading.
McCoy has long known about the statewide award from the Kansas Association of School Librarians, an organization she’s worked with for years. But to know one of her peers took the time to nominate her meant a lot, she said.
The librarian of the year award recognizes a library professional who has “developed an outstanding library media program for their district, and has made an outstanding contribution to school librarianship and school library media development in Kansas,” according to the organization’s website.
McCoy called the award “an incredible honor.”
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“I think so highly of the school library community here in Kansas,” McCoy said, “and really have gained so much as a librarian from them, and try my hardest to give back and really strengthen school libraries in the state of Kansas, that to be awarded by those peers is just magnificent.”
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She said school libraries look different than they did in the past. They serve as “vibrant community hubs,” McCoy said, and librarians teach students more than people may realize.
The library hosts each class at least once a week. Plus, students regularly stop in to check out or return books on their own.
“We are tied into every subject in the curriculum via the books in our collection,” McCoy said, “and also the lessons that we teach supplement those things, and then really raise awareness of the kids in our building to get each one of them to find a book that’s going to hook them, that’s going to spark a love of reading.”
McCoy’s nomination on the Kansas Association of School Librarians website calls her a natural leader.
It highlights McCoy’s presence on social media and podcasts, presentations at conferences, innovative units and leadership of a group of elementary librarians from across Kansas.
“Amanda is a credit to Kansas and to the library profession,” the nomination says.
McCoy has always had a passion for teaching. She first went to school to study music education before switching to the library.
This is McCoy’s fourth year at Sunflower. She previously worked in the Olathe school district.
“It’s been wonderful,” McCoy said of her time at Sunflower. “Our leadership is so rock solid, strong, incredibly supportive of the library and our mission to support reading in kids. And my coworkers in this building are just fantastic. They’re always game to try new ways of thinking, new events that we might have. They support the library as a place where a lot of teaching happens, and a lot of student learning.”
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Cuyler Dunn (he/him), staff reporter, has worked with The Lawrence Times since April 2022. He can be reached at [email protected].
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