Smallwood librarian nominated for librarian of the year

A school library is the hub of the place. It is usually centrally located, has more than a couple of ways in and out, and nine times out of 10 it boasts several windows allow natural light to flood in.

“I tell sixth graders, ‘If you get lost, come to the library and get your bearings,’” Heather Beaton, media specialist at General Smallwood Middle School, said. “From here, they can find their way to where they are going.”

Beaton was recently one of the 44 school librarians in the state nominated for the Maryland School Librarian of the Year Award by the Maryland Association of School Librarians, according to a release from the Charles public school system. The nominees are recognized for their contributions to education and in fostering academic success, promoting literacy and enhancing collaborative learning environments.

Beaton had nearly three decades of experience working in education before shifting to a career as a school librarian. She started with Charles public school system as a student teacher at Maurice J. McDonough High School teaching social studies.

She stayed there for 28 years.

“I did always want to be a librarian, but the timing wasn’t always right in pursuing the educational piece,” she said. But after finding the time, Beaton landed a job as the school librarian at Mt. Hope/Nanjemoy Elementary School.

When the opening came up at Smallwood, Beaton jumped at it.

“The secondary level is more my area,” said Beaton, who devoted the bulk of her career to educating high school-aged students. Secondary students tend to use the school library for more content driven projects, she said.

“I enjoy the age group. The kids are fun and funny. It’s fun for me to see them grow as human beings and as students. When you have been around as long as I have, I have taught tons and tons of kids, so I’ve taught a lot of these kids’ parents. There’s a kid here — I taught her grandfather,” Beaton said. “That’s a nice thing about Charles County Public Schools, you still have that continuity. There are teachers here that I have taught. That’s great to see. That’s the plus side of staying in one place for so long.”

Another good thing is being able to collaborate with teachers.

“They see me as a good partner,” Beaton said. “That’s the dream.”

She pulls resources and gathers materials for teachers and students that will enhance and bolster classroom lessons and projects.

“Heather’s wealth of experience as a career educator and her constant student- centered focus are invaluable,” Dedra Van Gelder, the school system’s content specialist for library media, said.

To be a successful school librarian “you need to be innovative, knowledgeable, collaborative, resilient, and have a solid foundation as a teacher,” Van Gelder added.

Beaton is Smallwood’s History Day coordinator, she holds read-a-louds with ACHIEVE students and those with special needs, hosts lunch bunches and book clubs for students, is the school’s public relations liaison and the related arts team leader.

Beaton recently worked with the school’s Advancement Via Individual Determination classes to find the right book for each student. It wasn’t a book club where everyone was going to read the same book. The idea was to match the student with a book they would read and enjoy.

If a student said they didn’t like to read, the mission switched to figuring out a subject they liked learning about or a book they enjoyed in the past.

“We used some of our resources to help the students find books that were ‘read a-likes,’” Beaton said. “You liked this book, and even if you liked this book in the fifth grade, there are other books that are similar to it that you’ll like now.”