Turning Pages, Sparking Minds: Celebrating National Library Workers Day

Today we’re celebrating the incredible people behind the shelves—our district’s library staff! Whether they’re recommending the perfect book, giving a passionate read-aloud or helping students fall in love with reading for the first time, our librarians and media center paraprofessionals are truly the heart of our schools. We spoke with a few of our library workers to hear what they love about the job. 

Barbara Berdahl, the Districtwide Elementary Media Specialist, supports all four elementary schools in our district, overseeing each library/media center and inspiring a love of reading everywhere she goes. “I love matching students with books they’re going to love and turning them into readers,” Barbara shared. You might find her giving a book talk in a classroom or reading aloud one of her favorite stories. She’s always learning and exploring new books and authors. “I like feeling supported in the choices I make for what books to add to library collections,” she added.

Stacy Odegard works in the library at Richfield STEM Elementary. This is her second year in the role, but she has a long history with R-STEM—volunteering for more than eight years when her three children attended. “I love being able to recommend books to kids,” Stacy said. She works with 4-5 classes each day and enjoys the balance of quiet tasks and the joyful chaos when kids arrive at the library. “The community and staff at R-STEM make it special.”

Kirsten Phillips brings both energy and calm to her role at Centennial Elementary, where she’s been making a difference for the past four years. “My job is the perfect mix of loud, energy-filled time with kids and quiet, task-focused time with books,” Kirsten said. She focuses on finding books that spark curiosity and help students see reading not as a chore but as a gift. “I live close to my school so I often run into students at Target and the grocery store,” shared Kirsten. “It always blows their minds that I actually leave the library sometimes.”

We’re grateful to Barbara, Stacy and Kirsten, alongside all of our library/media staff, for their passion, creativity and commitment to our students. Happy National Library Workers Day!