My Magical Book Memory

In the elementary school where I am librarian, occasionally there are guests in the school. Whether it's a new student, a school board member or a visiting artist, the principal usually gives them a tour of the school and the library is one of the first stops. She introduces me and often says something along the lines of, "Kristen has this magical ability to know what kind of books each student likes, and even which books they currently have checked out." She gets a very personalized view of this too, because her two sons are students at the school, and I've often handed her a book, saying "Sam wanted to check this out, and it just came in, could you give it to him?"

If I have a superpower, I think this is it. Because it's true. In a school of more than 400 students, I can
usually tell you that information about each student. And of course, I always know which students have overdues. When I greet them at curb duty each morning, I'll often say something like, "Hey Grant, did you remember to bring in those Catstronaut books?" Sometimes they did and I end up at curb duty with a stack of books to bring in and sometimes it's a sheepish, "oh my gosh, I left them by the front door." Even if I'm nagging them about returning books, I think students like that I know which books they have, and it gives us something personal to talk about, beyond the usual, "how was your weekend?"

In our school district, the specialists (librarian, music teacher, P.E. teacher) are the only teachers that literally see all the kids in the school. Classroom teachers know their own students, other students in their particular grade level, and their former students. But I have the distinct pleasure of getting to know all the students in the school. Of course, I don't develop a close relationship with every single student - that would be impossible - but I know every name, their grade, usually their teacher, and definitely what kind of books they like. Sometimes I know that they don't really like books at all, and I make it my mission to find something that they will enjoy.

Though many people are amazed by this ability to remember all that information, it doesn't feel like a superpower to me. I love kids and I love books, and when you put the two together, my mind just clicks. I generally have a good mind for memorizing things, but it works better on things that you like and that interest you. Kids and their reading choices are something that interests me, and that makes it easy to put it all together. I like to think I'm pretty good at my job, and this is one of the abilities that makes it so.

When I run into a former or current student out in the community and can't remember their name it drives me crazy! Just yesterday I saw a current student from a distance at a public event and try as I might, I couldn't remember her name. But I knew her grade and her teacher, so I quickly pulled up my library software on the phone and searched until I found her name. I had a feeling I would run into her and I wanted to be able to say her name, because it is so important to kids to feel seen and known. My effort was rewarded, because I did indeed bump into her and was able to say, "Hi, Kailey!" and to see her face light up. 

Yes, memorizing the faces, names and reading preferences of all my students is most definitely a superpower, because it's a small thing that I can do that makes kids feel special.