I will do it myself.

I was a teacher for 26 years before I had to go on medical leave and then disability due to chronic illness in 2019. I worked with illness my entire life, but my body could not keep up anymore; teaching is so hard and the hours are long and demanding. In addition to teaching I had earned two master’s degrees, one in varying exceptionalities and one in library information science. I held various positions including special education teacher, behavior specialist, and school librarian.

I presented at state and local conferences for technology and libraries. I was a leader in my state library organization as a membership and professional development chair. I fought hard to try and get our group to transfer to a membership site. We were very close to getting one established when after six months of planning the president decided that it was just too much cost and we could not raise dues. I was very disappointed as we were ready to launch our new interactive membership app where members could communicate and exchange ideas in one place in a modern platform. I believed we would attract younger members and be able to provide more professional development year round, not just at conferences.

Since I have had to go on leave, I have thought about starting my own membership platform. If my former organization would not do it, I could provide professional development and a place for librarians to get sound professional information and discussion. There are courses I would be able to teach online and not risk my health in which teachers could earn certificates. For example I am certified by Joy Labz Makey Makey to teach the Invention Literacy course. The pandemic has made the inclusion of more online courses both necessary and more comfortable for many people.

Another area that schools generally need help with is maker spaces. I had a successful maker space in my library when I was working and I am familiar with 3D printing and design. This is a topic I presented about many times in conferences and believe it would be a popular topic in a membership platform.

Another topic I would cover is the fear of failure and how failure is important. Failure is a necessary step in the learning process, growth process, and in improving what you are working on. You learn more when you fix mistakes than when you get something correct the first time. I teach the Stanford Design Thinking Process and how it can be applied throughout your life and become a part of your critical thinking process.

As a person with a great deal of experience with students in special education classes, I have been asked to present at conferences to give other librarians more insight on how to approach special populations. It was a popular session and I realized that many people had no experience with special people and had a lot of questions. This would be a very good forum for myself and others who have unique backgrounds to give insight.

Last year the state conference had to be canceled due to the pandemic. They had no platform to offer any alternative format. I do not want to be in competition with the state organization, but I am willing to offer what they are not ready to give, and not limit it to just our state. I have been teaching technology since 2005 and think it is time for the professionals to be connected through the technology we want our patrons to use. The Librarianship Exchange Application would be a dynamic place for librarians and teachers. And LEA means read in Spanish.