Leaders Today: 

Sandra Michele Echols  |  Eboni Henry  |  Dionne Howell-Taylor  |  Christopher Stewart  |  Debra Quarles  |  Related articles... 

Sandra Michele Echols

My first job working with libraries was at Queens Public Library (QPL) in Queens as the first full-time youth counselor. Prior to that, I worked in youth development at a prominent nonprofit organization in Harlem. While employed at QPL as a youth counselor, I heard about a full scholarship from the Institute of Museums and Library Services to train urban librarians and decided to apply. At the time, I was attending a graduate program at New York University in philanthropy and fundraising. But I had always loved reading and being surrounded by books, and this sounded like an incredible opportunity. So, now I have two master's degrees that work hand in hand.

At QPL, I established the branch’s first teen library and held three additional positions, working my way to the assistant director of the adult literacy program. My tenure there lasted nine years. Then, I became an assistant dean for the Mother Irene Gill Memorial Library at the now-closed College of New Rochelle in New Rochelle, New York. When that school was forced to shut down due to financial issues, I began teaching as an adjunct at the community college level. I later taught graduate-level courses in library science at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, New York.

But during the pandemic, I decided that I wanted to be a school librarian. I took advantage of a plan that allowed me to use my teaching experience in higher education to get a special teaching certificate that would allow me to work in New York City Public Schools. The city requires its librarians to be licensed teachers.

My school is a Title I school, and the majority of our 500 students are Black and Brown.

I believe in the power of Black librarians to change lives. I’m a former president of the New York Black Librarians Caucus. I’ve been a member of the ALA, the Black Caucus of the ALA, and the Joint Council of Librarians of Color. I believe in professional development, in continuing to improve my skills to best serve my students.

Recently, school librarians have come under attack due to attempts at censorship or campaigns against books by and about marginalized communities. I feel for my fellow librarians in other parts of the country who have been arrested and lost their jobs, things that should not happen to us just because of our professional roles. I haven’t been personally affected, but when I need support on the job, I turn to my Sister Girl Network of Black librarians, which includes people like 2022 School Librarian of the Year K.C. Boyd, Eboni Henry, and my mentor, Phyllis Mack.

The best part of my job is working closely with kids. Being able to pour into young people and teach them to become self-advocates is very important. We give them the tools to become a lifelong learner. It’s not just about a formal education. As a Black librarian, I also want to give them an informal education about the tools that are out there to help them. They may benefit from a Google course or a skill they pick up through Coursera, high-quality online courses by top universities and companies.

The kids here see me as a favorite auntie or a mom who gives you tough love when it’s needed. I always tell them to look at the word “learn.” Dump the letter “l,” and you have the word “earn.” Drop the letter “n,” and you have the word “ear.” We use our ears to listen, and when we listen, we learn. When we learn, we earn. If you put a cap on your education, you put a cap on your pocket.

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Dionne Howell-Taylor

Over my 25-year career in education, I’ve held several positions. I’ve been a district librarian, a principal, and a kindergarten teacher, just to name a few. I’m currently a high school librarian, and I oversee curriculum support and distribution. This school year, I secured two grants totaling $20,000 to update our nonfiction collection in order to meet the growing social needs of our minority students.

My mother always read to my siblings and me from an early age, sparking our love of reading, and I love being able to ignite that spark for students.

I studied elementary education at Jackson State University and went on to work as an elementary school teacher. After I married and had my first child, I was supposed to return to the classroom after winter break. But the principal didn’t want to interrupt my students mid-year, so he had me fill the open school librarian position. I was there 30 minutes when I realized this is where I needed to be.

I’m hard of hearing. I use a hearing aid and have always relied heavily on reading to process information. Being surrounded by books was heaven for me. I also loved getting to work with all of the students in the school and being able to create programming. I found out I would need a master’s degree to stay in the position, so I enrolled in the library science program at Chicago State University. That was 2000, and I’ve been in the library ever since. I also hold a master’s degree in educational administration from the American College of Education.

I love being able to create programming and getting to work with all of the students in the school. I want them to feel important and to know that the library is a safe haven.

I was the first Black librarian in the Fresno Unified School District. When I interviewed for the job, the principal was amazed and asked if I was a real librarian. I worked in Fresno for 10 years and implemented programs that supported Black students attending historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). I’m a graduate of two HBCUs—Jackson State University and Chicago State University. Through my role in Fresno, I also recruited the district’s second Black librarian.

One of the proudest moments of my career was when a former student who had been my library aide became a librarian. I taught her about being a librarian and even had her help struggling readers. Now she’s a high school librarian, and I couldn’t be prouder.

The recent campaigns against critical race theory (CRT) in K–12 schools have actually worked in my favor. Those efforts have put the issue of the role race plays in our society in the forefront, and I’ve used that to influence my displays in the library. The anti-CRT rhetoric has also prompted open discussions in my school about racism and discrimination. That’s probably because I work in an area that’s 50 percent Hispanic and 40 percent Black. My community is open to books and information about these things.

It’s important that we have Black librarians because librarians represent the core of a school. Everyone sees us, and we’re the glue that holds a school together. I think it’s inspiring for African American young people to see someone who looks like them in such a powerful position.

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Debra Quarles

Library and information technologies specialist, Shaker Heights (OH) Middle School

When I was growing up in the 1960s, my school didn’t have a school library, so my friends and I often went to the South Branch Library on Broadway Avenue in Toledo. This was during the time of integration, and the librarians there probably hadn’t seen many people who looked like us. They were all white, but they were welcoming. I remember feeling like the library was a safe haven for us.

By the time I reached high school, our family’s fortunes had changed, and for the first time, I attended a school that had a library. I enjoyed spending time there, but I never thought much about the librarians who worked there.

When I went to college, I planned to study medicine. But after I took organic chemistry, I realized that was not for me. I ended up working in fields that required information. I wrote grants for nonprofits. I worked in after-school programs and special education programs, jobs that were constantly requiring me to do research. Finally, a light bulb went off in my head when I was in my late 30s, and I decided to go back to school to become a librarian.

I always say I want to make the world bigger for the students and staff that I work with, and that guides everything I do. Two years ago, I started a junior librarians club. Most of the members just happen to be Black girls. I knew if I was really going to make the world bigger, I would need somebody to help me. I also knew I’m probably closer to the end of my career than the beginning. I wanted to share what librarians actually do because I was really disappointed with how little people knew about what it takes to be a librarian.

I’ve had people ask me, “Do you really need to go to school to become a librarian?”—and these aren’t people on the street. They’re people in education. The fact that people don’t realize the entry-level degree to become a librarian is a master’s degree is disconcerting to me. I was also concerned about what kind of legacy would be left if I didn’t do something about this lack of knowledge.

It’s important that we have Black librarians because we feed young people’s aspirations. Our presence is another way of making the world bigger for our students. When they learn about the career, see that there are people who look like them doing it and excelling at it, they begin to think, ‘Maybe I could do it, too.’ 

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