Katie Kovalaske
"Media specialists should be leaders, making curriculum connections and supporting staff and students."
Katie Kovalaske, Library Media Specialist
New London School District
New London, WI
What has been one of your favorite or most engaging activities with students in the last few years?
Last year, for the first time, we did a One Book, One School. I know that's not a new concept; it's been around for a while and I've participated in it as a parent with my kids in elementary school. But we had never done it at the middle school level. My building is grades 5 through 8. So, we did The Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling, which was great. Leading up to that, we did a big fundraiser to get funds to start the program. We did a readathon-style fundraiser, which was neat. That got the ball rolling, and then we were able to get the books and run the program. It was like a big book club with all of our families, and it was pretty successful. We had quite a bit of participation. From that, we hosted a family event night with stations that correlated with the book. It was really fun and got everybody involved - families, staff, even teachers from math and social studies. Everyone participated, reading a chapter here or there. I'm planning on doing it again this year with Restart by Gordon Korman. I'm reading it now, and I'm looking forward to it. A lot of schools really focus on literacy, and the library is always a huge part of that. But then, how does that tie into scores and data? Pushing that kind of programming has been my focus. I've had great support from my principal, who encourages me to think bigger, which is nice. It's been a nice unifying thing across grade levels. Sometimes grades can feel siloed, but having a whole-school activity gave us common language. It didn’t matter what teacher or grade students were with during intervention or enrichment time, everyone had that shared experience. Parents were reading at home, so kids saw their two worlds overlapping, which isn’t easy to do. We ran it like a big book club with a calendar for daily reading chunks. Families were the focus, but we added trivia questions with prizes and encouraged staff to record read-alouds for students who didn’t have support at home. We wanted to reward participation but also include kids who couldn’t join in at home. Staff enjoyed reading along, too. It was a balancing act, but pretty successful.
What makes a learning resource-book, video or experience truly meaningful for students in this digital age? What hooks them?
It has to catch their attention quickly. If it doesn’t, they tune out. I work with teachers on incorporating engaging resources into lessons. ClickView has been great for finding clips and videos. We’re also using Brisk AI this year as a teaching resource. Teachers like it as a planning partner because it can generate questions, lesson plans, IEP supports, and more. It creates Google Docs or Slides with sources and has rewrite features. We emphasize best practices: teachers remain the professionals, editing and crafting content. It’s great for wordsmithing and educational tasks. We just had a professional development day on it, and conversations continue about transparency and using it for feedback. Quick feedback is huge for writing. Instead of waiting days for a teacher to grade 60 essays, students can get feedback within a class period. Teachers are transparent about AI-generated feedback and pair it with peer reviews. It keeps the writing process continuous instead of stalled.
What are some tips for helping students think critically about online content, especially in middle school?
At this age, they’re mature enough to realize learning takes effort. We talk about whether a tool is helping them get started or just giving answers. We’re very much in the “we do” stage. AI use is structured and lesson-oriented. Students still have to synthesize information, fact-check in databases, and evaluate sources. As soon as they leave school, they have access to everything, often without realizing it’s AI. So, we stress being critical and aware of who and what they’re interacting with.
You have five minutes at a principals’ conference to explain the power of the library and media center. What do you say?
The library needs to be the hub, a place where things happen. Media specialists should be leaders, making curriculum connections and supporting staff and students. I could sit in my office and buy books all day, but that’s not enough. Admin should expect media specialists to lead. Staffing matters too. I’m K–8 with four elementary schools, but my middle school role is where I can coach and collaborate deeply. A full-time media specialist in each building is invaluable - they’re the connector across teams.
Lightning Questions
1. Book you’re reading now?
Restart by Gordon Korman.
2. One person you follow on social media that you always learn from or makes you laugh?
Charlie Berens - his sketches are great.
3. Favorite current tech tool?
ClickView and Brisk AI.
4. Best part of your role that others might not realize?
Building relationships with students from grades 5–8 and seeing their growth over time.
5. What is one piece of advice you've received that has been the most beneficial to your career?
Push yourself to do more and keep things fresh. Don’t just repeat last year’s work.
