Kara Thorstenson

Generated this beautiful literary wombat using AI at the Tech & Learning Summit today in Naperville!@techlearning #tltechlive

@MaryWoodard @CpsLibraries Agreed! I think there are also certain types of books we shy away from depending on our student body/community, and equity in collections should also consider gender identity, sexuality and the stories of marginalized groups #equityinlibraries #alaac21

#equityinlibraries #ALAAC21 Q2: What might be the ways that equity can be absent from collection development?

@MaryWoodard @CpsLibraries Yes, we are in discussion with the vendors who supply MARC records to our vendors. 😄 Plus university and library partners; we are casting a wide net right now #equityinlibraries #alaac21

#equityinlibraries #ALAAC21 Q6: We are at the early stages of critical cataloging but we know that this work is indeed critical. How might we work together to amplify the necessity of critical cataloging?

@MaryWoodard @CpsLibraries We are fortunate to have a school board policy that governs collection development but we can also provide guidance and reference materials that are valuable on the ground for our schools #equityinlibraries #alaac21

#equityinlibraries #ALAAC21 Q4: How might you broaden access to texts within library policies, governance and general guidance?

@MaryWoodard @CpsLibraries @mesquiteisdtx In a district like ours where not all school libraries are staffed, we also think ebooks can bridge the gap in resource access, although they are no replacement for a licensed school librarian! #equityinlibraries #alaac21

#equityinlibraries #ALAAC21 Q3: How else might ebooks bring considered equitable for students?

@MaryWoodard @CpsLibraries One of our colleages in the CPS Office of Equity suggested that we should encourage students and teachers to "challenge" books in the sense that they should feel empowered to bring racist, sexist, outdated texts to our attention for removal #equityinlibraries #alaac22

#equityinlibraries #ALAAC21 Q7: Share your most successful or least successful library equity strategies. What might you do differently next time?

Getting ready for CPS Battle of the Books! Can’t wait to greet all of our citywide competitors!

Learning to play Happy Salmon with Librarians at our #ctla meeting @AISLEd_org

@CPSLibraries game night at Cat & Mouse Games @AISLEd_org #ctla

"School libraries are necessary. It is necessary to have a physical space dedicated to exploration and imagination." -@ChelseaClinton mrschureads.blogspot.com/2017/05/happy-…

I was challenged by @EGHSJapanese to post 7 covers of 7 books that I love. No explanations, no reviews. I'll challenge someone else each day to post 1 cover per day for a week. This is day 1 of 7. I challenge @CpsLibraries.

Chicago’s West Side gets first regional library in 40 years chicago.curbed.com/2019/2/7/18215… via @CurbedChicago

@ChicagosMayor and I are excited to announce a new summer reading initiative that will be in 50 schools! #Literacy prepares students for success and this is another one of my visions for the district.

The Summer Reading Initiative builds on the success of @ChiPubLib’s #RahmsReaders Summer Learning Challenge, which last summer engaged more than 110,000 students who read more than 108 million minutes & completed more than 1.3 million learning activities. bit.ly/CPSSummerReadi…

📚Approximately 8,500 books will be provided to students free of charge before the school year ends at the 50 @ChiPubSchools participating in the 1st year of the program. 📚 bit.ly/CPSSummerReadi…

After the #PolarVortex19, @ChiPubSchools has summer on its mind! Starting this year, 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade teachers will assign contemporary, culturally relevant summer reading assignments to incoming students. 📚📖 #RahmsReaders

Lots of love and learning with the 3rd graders of Brown Elementary School before our Summer reading initiative announcement. #CutenessOverload #RahmsReaders 📖📚

@alanmillerNLP I am the supervisor! I’m the District’s library and digital media manager, reaching out to you on behalf of CPS librarians and teachers.

@alanmillerNLP @NewsLitProject @checkology Please help CPS teachers access your checkology resources! I have been trying to work with you guys since the fall to discuss alternatives to YouTube. Please DM me!