Everyone has a favorite place on campus. For some it’s the field, the classroom of a favorite teacher, the lunchroom, or even the hallway. For me, the TCHS library has always been a beating heart of the campus—with good books, a welcoming atmosphere, and a friendly librarian and aides, the library is a great place to study, read, eat lunch, or just kick back and relax.
The library wouldn’t be the same without the staff who put it together and keep the place running. Head librarian Kimberly Broomhall is a key example.
“I want it to feel like a home, a place where you can hang out, where you can be yourself, where you can cuddle up with a book, where you can get work done, where you feel seen, where you feel appreciated—where you’re not afraid to ask questions even if they’re really hard questions.” Broomhall said.
Library aide Heba El-zarou also works to keep the library up and running, often handling behind-the-scenes tasks that students might not think about.
“It’s a lot of things like the Question of the Week, decorating, putting up books on display, fixing up books when we get them torn or damaged … some dusting and keeping everything organized & clean. When I first came in there weren’t very many displays so I added as many as I could.” Says Elzarro
Apparently, I’m not alone in loving the library—many other students have found a safe space there as well.
“Mrs. Broomhall is very open minded to everyone’s beliefs and opinions—it’s a very open and healthy environment … last year I was very new to things—all the people were new. So, coming to the library became my hiding space—it’s been my safe space.” Junior Eddie Morath said.
Sophomore Audi Castro, added, “The atmosphere in there, it’s very calm and controlled, easy to find the books you want because it’s very well-organized, there’s a variety of seating to choose from—so, I just like being in there.”
Broomhall has been our librarian here for five years. In that time, some things have changed.
“I started in the year 2020-2021, so you can imagine how strange covid made things at that point … trying to navigate if germs stay on books—‘what do we do with that? Do we quarantine the books?’ For the first half of the year we had these tables with green checkmarks and red X’s, you were only allowed one person at a small table and two people at a long table. I had to keep kids from getting too close to each other or getting near somebody else’s green checkmark. It really wasn’t fun. It wasn’t what libraries are supposed to be—it’s supposed to be a hub of activity and people and exploration—I feel like covid put a huge damper on that.” Explained Broomhall
Fortunately, things have changed since covid.
”Thankfully, we’ve gotten out of those restrictions and I’ve been able to mold the libra
ry into what it was always meant to be.” Continues Broomhall.
Before being our librarian here at TC, Broomhall had experience as a teacher.
”I decided to [become a librarian] because I already studied education … I thought that I was going to be a teacher. I taught in North Carolina for three years. I ended up moving to Texas with my husband … I started teaching at this school in Dallas. By the end of my fifth year there I was being told—down to the script—what I would say to my students—my autonomy was gone in the classroom.” Broomhall said.
Her experience in a restricted classroom has driven her to pack the TC library with materials that can be relevant for all kinds of students.
“I seriously considered going back to school to become a dental hygienist because I just felt like I couldn’t do it anymore. It felt like the administration at that school only wanted people who were gonna do and say what was asked of them. I taught at this school that was something like mostly [English as a second language] students, many had limited English and I was being told to only teach literature by old white guys, it wasn’t relevant to my kids but I couldn’t say no.”
Another aspect of what makes the library so inviting is the interesting, colorful displays.
“I have student library aides who are responsible for at least one section of the library. We like forward-facing displays, the majority of the shelf should be showing book-faces rather than book spines—we’ve seen an uptick in circulation because of that. I also pay attention to what you guys check out—what you’re studying so you have supplemental materials.” Broomhall states.
Things aren’t always easy sometimes there are obstacles to be tackled, like budget cuts.
“we’re seeing it more right now … in the past, I have been very fortunate to get Title 1 funds from the district. At the end of the school year they do a recapture of funds that aren’t spent, they have to be spent before the end of the school year. And so, I’ve been able to get money to purchase new books here—and that wasn’t able to happen this year because there isn’t any extra funds in the district—because we’re struggling with our budget” says Broomhall “I do wish that we could keep my aide, Ms. El-zarou, because of the budget cuts, all library aides have been cut from the district, which is really hard because we do so much here in the library.”
This puts a slight damper on Broomhall’s excitement.
“I worry, even though I will work hard to make sure I’m still reaching the level that we have here [at TC], that [the library] won’t be as good because I will also be taking care of more.”
Challenges like budget cuts do not stop Broomhall from dreaming big and being excited for next year.
“next year we are getting a complete renovation, I’m not totally sure what it will look like but I am excited for it—but, if I could dream big, maybe doing some field trips would be cool—it’d be awesome to visit different libraries around the US, or a trip to DC to see the Smithsonian, or bring authors in—authors are very expensive—that would be awesome, getting [students] exposed to different places, different cultures, is so valuable” Broomhall explains
Broomhall isn’t the only one dreaming big for the library.
”If I could dream big for the library” says Morath, “I would deck it out in bright colors, glass windows everywhere, I’d hang up posters of Mrs. Broomhall to be funny, I’d put glitter everywhere.”
“I’d get even more books that are about history and heritage. For example, I’m Armenian and I’d definitely like to see more books about [the Armenian genocide] and history, we only got one about it like a month ago and, I think, it’s the first one in this library about it. So if I could, we’d have even more books on history and ancestry and heritage.” Morath continues.
There are many stereotypes about libraries and librarians that don’t apply to our TC library.
“I don’t wear cardigans often, you don’t usually see me in a topknot, I don’t tell you to shush in the library” says Broomhall “when you walk into this space it is usually a hub of activity—I think that students are now realizing that not all libraries are like the one from Monsters University—where you’ve got the really scary librarian trying to throw you out of the window. No, we try to be a place for everybody, that means bringing in other things besides books—not everyone likes to read and that’s okay.”
Broomhall cares a lot about making the library an accepting place for all students.
“[We don’t] stomp on creativity” says Broomhall “we’ve go Sudoku for the math people, we’ve got coloring sheets for the artists, we’ve got our 3D printer and our sewing machine—we have a student who comes in here, hasn’t checked a book out the entire school year, but they have sewed so many things on the sewing machine, which is awesome.”
She also works to make the library an inclusive space for students of all backgrounds.
“It’s important that [students] see that there are so many groups of people in here—it isn’t just the ‘nerds’ with their face in a book—we read together on the couches every Thursday morning, having those activities, having lunchtime in here, it’s all about creating warmth and just being a welcoming face … when a kid returns a book late, it’s ‘thank you for bringing it back’, not ‘you owe 15$ in late fees!’ I care if the book came back, I care if you enjoyed it” Broomhall explains.
”I met a lot of my friends there,” says Castro “and Mrs. Broomhall always recommends books to me. There’s a lot more to do in there than most high school libraries.”
With the year wrapping up, there’s been many good moments in the library to look back on.
“We won a grant for 5,000$ to purchase our Sphero robots, the 3D printer, and the engineering kit” reminisces Mrs. Broomhall.
This year has also taught her new things.
“all three of those things are not necessarily activities that I am automatically skilled with so I’ve learned to let students take the lead … with the engineering kit, there’s challenge cards in there and I had some students just try out the challenge cards—and they taught me how it works, they taught me how to build … that’s really invaluable because I’m always learning—just because I ha
ve a Master’s degree in Library Science doesn’t mean that I know everything.” Broomhall says.
As well as reminiscing about this school year, Broomhall reminds us of the library resources we can still use over the summer.
“Definitely use Sora, that’s where all our Ebooks & audiobooks are. [Over the summer] you can’t check out physical books from the library, so absolutely check out Sora” explains Broomhall “I spend about 40% of our budget on Ebooks & audiobooks, they are a lot more expensive than regular books.”
She also reminds us that there are resources outside of our TC library.
I also highly recommend checking out The Colony Public Library, they’ve got a lot of really cool teen events—even if you’re not there for the books, they have an ice cream social, they have crafting stuff.” says Broomhall
Broomhall is also making plans for our library next year.
“I hope that I figure out how to swim on my own—it is going to be different, but I’m hoping to adjust. What I want is to have the best space for you guys, it’s all about what you guys can take away from the library. I’m influenced by the possibilities, I would love to be able to collaborate with the history department or the math department—I hope the possibilities of that inspire me to step out of my comfort zone and work with some awesome teachers.”
The library is such a vital part of our campus, along with the librarian, aides, students, and staff who make it possible. Over this summer, I don’t think I’ll be alone in missing the cozy, welcoming atmosphere of our TCHS library.
