Akins Librarian Terresa Grumbles proudly claimed the title of District Librarian of the Year on May 7.
This is Grumbles’ second stint at Akins, where she has served in different capacities over 10 years, including AVID and social studies teacher, academy coordinator, and librarian.
Grumbles was born and raised in Austin and started her career in education in 1999 at LBJ High School. Before she became the librarian at Akins, she worked as a librarian at Parades Middle School for two years.
Grumbles recently announced that she is leaving Akins at the end of the year to better care for her family. She is taking over the librarian position at Bailey Middle School.
“My decade at Akins has been one of the happiest in my educational career,” Grumbles wrote in an email to staff. “I’ve been able to work with some of my best friends, alongside the best students and staff. In the past few years, I’ve hit some professional highs, and I’ll always be proud of what I’ve accomplished here with the AVID program and in my role as librarian. My heart will always be a part of Akins, and I will be forever grateful for my time here with all of you. Wings Up and thanks for all of the amazing memories.”
EE: Where are you from?
Teresa Grumbles: I was born in Austin, Texas, and grew up on Manchaca. I’m one of those weird, South Austin unicorns, there aren’t many of us that still live and work in this area. I’m a product of Austin ISD schools, I went to Menchaca Elementary, Fulmore MS, and Travis HS. Had Akins been built when I was going to high school, this is where I would have gone.
EE: Why did you choose to be a librarian after being a social studies teacher and an AVID teacher?
TG: I chose to be a librarian because I love reading books, and I wanted to encourage students to become passionate about reading and finding stories that really resonate with them.
EE: What do you do as a librarian?
TG: I do so many things. I’m a jack of all trades. So I work with teachers to get them scheduled to come to the library, to get their students to check out books. I collaborate with teachers on library lessons and help them incorporate resources from the library into their units of study. I help them with research lessons. I host a staff book club and a student book club. I order books for the library, process books, and teach a reading class. I help host events in my library. I have told you that students can come to lunch every day, and I try to make sure that the library is a safe, welcoming space for all students.
EE: What do you teach?
TG: I teach a reading intervention class. It’s called dyslexia reading. So I work with students who need help decoding words and who need, you know, help with, you know, writing and spelling, so I teach that on B days.
EE: What is the grant project that you ran this year?
TG: I applied for an A+ FCU grant last year entitled “Empowering Young Readers: A Library Book Club and Literacy Initiative for Title 1 Students.” I wanted to build my library student book club. We meet once a week and read our books for Battle of the Books as well as banned books. I found out over the summer that I received my grant, which was exciting.
EE: What else does the grant do?
TG: This grant will help support literacy on our campus by providing resources for our reading programs and library student book club. Students will be able to engage with their peers, think critically about books, and develop a love of reading in a safe space.
EE: How do you feel about being nominated for Librarian of the Year?
TG: I feel incredibly honored to have been nominated as AISD’s librarian of the year. This is my fourth year as a librarian in Austin ISD, but my role as the Akins librarian has brought me the greatest joy of my professional career!
