April is National School Library Month. To celebrate this, we interviewed Ms. Jackson, one of the librarians.

Alisa Burt: What’s your favorite book of all time?

Ms. Jackson: I’m definitely a Harry Potter fan, But I’ve been reading the winner of the Sequoia book Legendborn by Tracy Dionne, it’s really really good.

Alisa Burt: What book are you currently reading?

Ms. Jackson: Well keeping it in the theme of the Sequoyah [note: a book award for a group of the best books each year], I’m now reading Firekeepers daughter which is also very, very good too. I really enjoyed reading the different books that are on the Sequoyah master list because it gets me something that I probably wouldn’t read before. Like there’s this one book called “Love in English” by Maria E. Andreu and it puts you in the place of [experincing] English as a second language, as a person being here in school. So when the teacher is talking and the person doesn’t understand the words in the book, they actually have hashtags. So you don’t understand the words either, you’re trying to figure out just like the student in the book, like, well, what did the teacher say to the student? It’s like [cool] because you don’t understand that word in English so it really kind of reverses the script, it’s so cool because you’re confused like the character because you understand some of the words but not all of them. And I just love how it changes the point of view.

Alisa Burt: How do you think libraries or reading, in general, is beneficial to schools and communities?

Ms. Jackson: I think one of the things a lot of people focus on in a library is just reading, but the library is more about trying to find knowledge and information. So because you know we are getting a lot of things online, and then just a fine kind of shift through all the electronic resources and to get credible sources. I think that’s the big thing because anybody can put stuff out on the internet. I mean, they just said that Rihanna and Aesop right ASAP Rocky broke up, but it was not true. But you know, we got like 300,000 likes and all this other stuff. So you have to know your sources when you get information.

Alisa Burt: How long have you been working here at North?

Ms. Jackson: This will be my second year.

Alisa Burt: What’s your favorite thing about working here?

Ms. Jackson: I really enjoy it when the kids come in looking for something in particular, and we actually have it for them. Or, even better yet, if we turn them on to something that perhaps they weren’t into before. We have a lot of kids that come in, they’re like, oh, I don’t like reading. I don’t like this. I don’t like that. And then I’ll give them a book and we’ll come back and like, that book was really good I think I enjoy reading. It’s funny cause I think no, you probably still don’t like reading, it’s just that that book was so good.

Alisa Burt: Anything else you want to say to our readers?

Ms. Jackson: We appreciate all the kids that come into the library and follow the 3 rules: Having their Student ID, not eating, and not being a fool. Then everyone can have a great time.

Make sure to stop by the library to meet your librarians and check out some books! The library is a great place to study, read, or relax. The librarians work hard to keep it clean and organized and make it an enjoyable experience for everyone.