Mat-Su librarian receives top honors

April 29, 2005

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - Robin Turk is no ordinary middle school librarian. Her colleagues at Colony Middle School praise her for innovative approaches to learning, which include her strong advocacy of inquiry-based academics that moves beyond the basic who, what, when, where questions.

On March 12, the Alaska Association of School Librarians took notice and named her the 2005 School Librarian of the Year, an honor she shares with co-winner Kaite Sanders of Ladd Elementary School in Fairbanks.

The two were recognized by peers and awarded framed certificates along with checks for $250, sponsored by Follett Library Resources.

Colony Middle School English teacher Emily Forester described Turk as an inspiration who has changed the way she teaches.

"I can't begin to describe what Robin has done for me as a facilitator of critical thinking within my classroom," Forester stated.

Turk is an advocate of incorporating technology with academics. She recently assisted a teacher with creating and managing an "Of Mice and Men" Web log to facilitate conversation between students and actors in a production of the play "Of Mice and Men."

This project was nationally recognized as one of the 10 Best Practices of Blogs on the Will Richardson EdBlog site.

Turk's leadership reaches both the local and statewide levels.

She served on the Governor's Advisory Council and is currently on the Databases for Alaskans committee.

Locally, Turk helped create the Mat-Su Library Consortium, which brought 28 school libraries and seven public libraries together in the Mat-Su Borough. Turk is currently working to bring districtwide access to online databases.