Q&A with Katie Conover Clark, 2019 School Librarian of the Year

WASILLA— Mat-Su Central School librarian, Katie Conover Clark was recently named the School Librarian of the Year by the Alaska Association of School Libraries. Below is a question and answer interview with Conover Clark, talking about her recent award and what being a librarian means to her.

How long have you been a librarian at Mat-Su Central School?

“This is my third year at Mat-Su Central but I’ve been a librarian in the district since 2006… and I’ve been teaching in the district since 1997.”

So how do you feel about being recognized as the librarian of the year?

“Oh, it’s an honor.”

Why did you switch from being a teacher to being a librarian?

“I think I love a good challenge. I had just gotten my master’s degree in educational technology. A lot of librarians do a lot of teaching with technology.”

Why is that?

“It’s just part of our job description. It’s information skills. We used to get information from books but now we get information from all kinds of sources.”

Do you think there’s always going to be a place for the printed word?

Absolutely… I think that a librarian’s job is even more important today than it was 50 years ago.

How so?

“Information used to be published by reputable publishing houses and today, anybody can put anything online so it’s even more important that students know how to decide if something is true, if it’s authentic. There’s criteria for evaluating… to determine if information is true and valid.”

So it basically behooves you to teach kids valuable research skills and critical thinking?

“So a librarian’s job is partly to teach research but also to kind of promote community equity, show balanced perspective, encourage students to participate in a democratic society. I mean, I’m not making this up. This is all part of library training.”

What’s some of your favorite things about being a librarian?

For me, what I think the most beautiful part of being a librarian is that it’s very student centered- whether I’m helping them find a book they want to read for fun or resources. It’s all about their interests and their project. It’s about teaching them to be safe online, to create something. If you think about each curricular being an island, you know, the library’s in the center… I’m every child’s teacher every year and I watch them grow from the beginning until they graduate.”

That’s a good point

“For the library, it’s very much about the journey.”

So what do you mean exactly by ‘the journey?’

“That we focus more on the process than the product… a term called ‘growth mindset,’ it’s the idea that we create a culture where children feel like they can take risks, where they can make mistake and they see mistakes just as opportunities to learn… If you’re focused on the process, then you have multiple correct answers and I think anytime you come into a library setting, one of the things librarians make is a safe place for everyone.”

What are some things that a library can offer students?

“If you think about that kid that’s not feeling very social, doesn’t want to be in the loud and crowded lunch room, they can also come to their library. If a group wants to have a place to meet to collaborate on a project, they can go to their library. If you want to just escape in your mind for a while, you can get a good book in the library. If you want to explore your passions, you can go to the library.”

What projects have you been working on?

“One thing I did this year that I’m super excited about was called Maker’s Space. We did it actually district wide. We did a bunch of professional development as librarians and it brings those science, technology, engineering, creative thinking, computational thinking together. So Friday we’re gonna have what’s called a Makers Fair… Some of them are just made out of recycled materials, but it’s anything a student could bring in. Something that they sewed on a sewing machine or built out of wood or painted. Anything… it gets kids back to that ‘what are you passionate about?’”

Are you glad that you went down this journey and became a librarian?

“Oh totally, yeah. I did a lot of things and I loved every one of them. I started out as a P.E teacher and a classroom teacher, a reading specialist. I didn’t even like to read growing up and I think that’s why I get it when somebody comes in and they’re like, ‘I don’t like to read.’ I’m like, ‘ get you. I didn’t like it either.’ And I’m like, ‘until I found that book that was like ohhh yeah.’”

Do you try to encourage lateral thinking?

“Yeah. In fact, this year I taught 10 different classes. I taught classes to all K-12 so I taught some littles, some in high school and some in middle school. I even taught a parenting class [Love and Logic with student’s parents and is open to the public as well].”

So you started the Mat-Su Imagination Library?

“I started that 10 years ago in the Valley. That provides free books in the mail to kids under five… If you sign up your kiddo at birth, that’s 60 books... Dolly Parton started this program in Tennessee and she opened it up to all the other states. In the Mat-Su, we basically raised, it’s a lot of money, it’s like $85,000 to pay for people in our community.”

So did the school or the district who raised the money?

“No, it’s a nonprofit here in the community called Mat-Su Imagination Library- and we have a website.”

So it’s once a month?

“Yep. Once a month, every month until your child turns five. It doesn’t cost anything to sign up. We do community events. We mostly have been grant funded… we get grants from all over the place. Donations, we get a lot of donations because otherwise we wouldn’t make it.”

So when did you bring this to the Valley?

“2009, so this is our 10 year anniversary.”

Does that mean everyone in the Mat-Su is eligible?

“Everyone in the whole borough.”

How many people are involved?

“I think there’s 12 or 13 on our board but there’s more that volunteer at our events… It’s really an amazing group of people. It gets harder and harder to raise money especially since the state funding partially comes to us through grants from other agencies so that early childhood money that you hear about from the state, that really impacts us.”

Are you worried about that looking forward?

“We’re always in need of donations, probably now more than ever. “

For more information about classes and events at the Mat-Su Central School library, call 907-352-7450 or visit: www.matsucentral.org/library.

To learn more about the Mat-Su Imagination Library, visit: www.matsuimaginationlibrary.org or simply search “Mat-Su Imagination Library” in Facebook to find their page.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com