TLA’s new Representative-at-Large for School Libraries is Melissa Rippy. She is the Director of Libraries and Instructional Materials at Pasadena ISD.
At TLA, Melissa has volunteered in a variety of roles, including as a member of the Bylaws and Resolution Committee (2018-2021), the Local Arrangements Committee (multiple years) and the Teacher Day at TLA Task Force (2017-2019.)
School librarians are working in a challenging environment right now.
“School librarians continue to struggle with imbalances in access, budgets and staffing in schools across Texas during a pandemic, reduced budgets, and virtual learning. Now more than ever before, we need a supportive community for those facing similar obstacles. TLA and TASL (Texas Association of School Librarians) have the ability to help make connections among librarians so that they are able to work together to find solutions to these common obstacles while still meeting the various needs of students and teachers. The pandemic has changed the way that we interact with each other in our world; as a “living” organization, TLA has the opportunity to adapt and evolve so that it may serve as a source of community and guidance meeting the needs of all librarians.”
Photo available upon request.
For more information, contact: Wendy Woodland, Director of Communications and Advocacy for TLA, at wendyw@txla.org.