The State Librarian of the Year Award was presented to Chambers

Adria Cooper, Staff Reporter
Originally published November 27, 2019

TuesdD Chambers has recently been recognized for her hard work by receiving The Washington Teacher Librarian of the Year Award. She was presented with $500, which she plans to buy more book club books with.

Chambers was presented with this award by the State Librarian Association due to the many things she does to service the school and the school district. 

She works with teachers to use technology to make learning more interactive.“I do a lot of work with instructional innovation,” Chambers said. 

She has also introduced new programs in the district. “I do a puzzle exchange, I do a rubix cube ambassadorship, when we have holidays and/or heritage months I promote lesson plans,” Chambers said.

Additionally, she writes a newsletter for the entire school district. Chambers collects articles from all over the district which she edits and arranges into said newsletter that is distributed monthly.

Chambers does so much that she can’t even keep track of it all, “And that’s just off the top of my head,” she said when listing her curriculum. “I love my job!”

Junior Mari White is a supporter of Chambers and her efforts to engage students. “She is trying to change the curriculum for the benefit of students,” White said.

Principal Keven Wynkoop acknowledges Chambers’ hard work as well. “She’s made the library a dynamic learning place that is comfortable for all students,” he said. 

The library is not just a place for reading anymore. “We want the library to be a place that is very much the center of the school, and she’s worked really hard to make it that,” Wynkoop said.

Part of what Chambers is doing to advance reading at school is questioning what literature is traditionally thought of.

 “Classic for whom?” she said of the decade-old books that have been labeled as such and therefore favored in curriculum.

 “Some of these books, at the time they were written, were supposed to be classics for their time. They’re not meant to be the same books we read 100 years from now,” Chambers said. “Just like you are learning and growing and you don’t have the same ideas you had when you were seven, I would hope we don’t have the same ideas we did 100 years ago.”

Chambers’ work in revolutionizing reading has earned her praise across the district.  She was nominated for the award by not just one person but four. 

Her former program manager Marion Royal as well as staff from Madison Middle School, Eagle Staff Middle School and Magnolia Elementary School were the ones to nominate her.

 “Normally you have the people you are friends with [nominate you], but mine were like elementary, middle, and high [school],” Chambers said.

Despite all the work she has done, she stays humble about her award. “You don’t get an award like this because of one person,” she said. “You get an award like this because you work with really passionate teachers. You work with students who care and are interested in learning more. You get this award because you have a principal who buys you books.”

She also is aware of the privilege she has working at a school like Ballard. “Part of the reason I am here is because I can. I have a full-time library assistant. Nobody else has that,” Chambers said. “I’m awesome because everybody supports me as such. And that is not happening in the same way ten miles away.”

From book clubs to classroom visits with book carts, Chambers is eager to let students read. She is skeptical of all the tests and tricks teachers use to get students to read, “How about you stop talking about [tests] and let [students] read what they want to read,” Chambers said. “The single best way to get kids to read, is to let them.”