A library is an essential part of a school community. It is a place where students can host clubs, study, and check out books. This why it takes a special person to be a librarian. New Librarian  Tara Walker-Leon believes she can add a welcome new perspective to the Library.

“My biggest goal inside of the library is to have not only books but also a center of learning,” Walker-Leon said. “Right now, classes like robotics are limited, and some students don’t take those classes, so maybe if they did have a way of exploring those options, they would take those classes in more depth. A library is a place to discover things and be curious.”

Walker-Leon is relatively new to the librarian position but has been an educator for 15 years.

“My interest really started when I saw kids in my class reading The Hunger Games, and I wondered why everyone’s reading this book,” Walker-Leon said. “So then I started reading more and more young adult to connect with the kids. I love to read, and to really get kids excited about reading.”

Bowie Librarian Cara Hollandsworth is excited to see what Walker-Leon brings to the campus  as the new librarian.

“[Walker-Leon] is a relatively new librarian, so her education is very fresh,” Hollandsworth said. She is very enthusiastic about being a librarian and about reading in general, and her experience as a teacher really helps her to connect with students in all kinds of ways. She knows both sides of what it’s like to be in the classroom, as well as in the library and I think that that combination really helps to make for a very effective librarian.”

Hollandsworth believes that a library isn’t just for people who love to read.

“We have a lot of different opportunities in here,” Hollandsworth said. “So I’d just like to invite everyone to come by the library and see what we have, and let us show them around.”

Walker-Leon is looking forward to sharing the library with both the teachers and students of Bowie.

“I know how hard teachers work, so I would love to teach their class sometime, or do some sort of cooperation with them,” Walker-Leon said.  “And I want students to know that the library is here for them. As a safe place, as a place to discover, and as a place to build community.”