Library Appreciation Week

4/11-4/15 was Library Appreciation Week at Forest North, and part of National Libraries Month across the United States.  The national theme this year is "Libraries Transform." Students at Forest North each wrote on a paper butterfly how the library transformed them! We had some beautiful, touching responses about how the Forest North library transformed them as readers, learners, and as human beings.   

Our 3rd grade team led the charge to make us feel appreciated here on campus, and boy, did they accomplish that!  Mrs. Young and I got showered with sweet notes, treats, and love. We are so lucky to work at such a wonderful campus! #bestjobever

Fournier Featured on RRISD Website for National Libraries Week

I'm so excited! I was featured on the district website for National Libraries Week!  Check out my interview reprinted below:

In celebration of School Library Month, Round Rock ISD will highlight district librarians all week, showcasing the essential role libraries play in transforming learning.

Learn more about Forest North Elementary School Librarian Kristen Fournier:

Why did you decide to become a librarian? 
I wanted to be a librarian to share my passion for reading. I love building a culture of books and sharing my enthusiasm for reading with everyone I know! I am constantly recommending and lending out books to my students, colleagues, relatives, neighbors and friends. It’s my favorite thing!

What is your favorite part of working in a school library?
My favorite part of being a school librarian is programming. Celebrating reading and encouraging students to get involved in our school community can be so fun and positive. Lately I’ve started a Ukulele Club with our music teacher, where students have their own grant-funded instruments, and a Comic Book Club with an FCC teacher, where we drew and wrote our own comics, made video reviews a la “Reading Rainbow,” and took home comics donated through our partnership with Titan Moon Comics.

What are you reading right now?
Right now I’m reading “Hamster Princess” by Ursula Vernon with my second grade book club. It’s a funny version of the traditional Sleeping Beauty story that points out some of the silliness of the original tale, like, were those vines growing everywhere really necessary? And what do they do to property values? We’re having fun with it!

What is your favorite childhood book?
My favorite book as a child was “The Egypt Game” by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. I loved how you could go anywhere you wanted if you used your imagination, and how the kids worked together to make their own version of Egypt in an abandoned storage building. I wanted to make my own Egypt Game!

What is one thing you want people to know about your campus library?
The Forest North library’s Texas Bluebonnet Award program is being featured at our state Texas Library Association conference in April. Bluebonnet is a statewide program that encourages students to read five or more high-quality books of all genres, which has very high levels of participation at Forest North. We do it big, with multiple celebrations that this year included manicures, video games, chocolate fountains and flying drones! Some of our third, fourth and fifth grade teachers and students were interviewed about how and why they participate and regarding our school reading culture to give advice to other librarians across Texas.

The library is the heart of the school!

April is National School Library Month. In April, we are celebrating the library a different way every day! Today, we wanted to prove the library is the heart of the school. Every student was given a red heart to write why they love the library, and we posted them outside our doors.

Thanks so much for all the wonderful reasons you love the library, Forest North. It was such a special day and made Mrs. Young and I feel special too. We love our jobs! <3