She’s too modest to admit it, but Carolyn Brodie has launched a revival in Ohio’s youth services

If you are fortunate enough to meet Carolyn Brodie—the winner of this year’s Scholastic Library Publishing Award—I can guarantee that in the first five minutes you’ll be completely charmed by her soft-spoken Arkansas accent, warm demeanor, and genteel manners. Don’t be fooled. While the graciousness is authentic, the woman behind it is fearless, with a clear vision for youth services, remarkable tenacity, unmatchable energy, and an incredibly strong work ethic.

Photograph by Raymundo Garza

Add to these a deep knowledge of children’s literature, an enthusiasm for technology, expertise in both school and public libraries, and a terrific dedication to the professionals who work with kids and you’ll begin to understand the woman who—over the past 20 years—has launched a renaissance in school, children’s, and young adult services in the state of Ohio. “Carolyn has had an enormous impact on our public libraries and school libraries,” says Roger Verny, Ohio’s deputy state librarian. “She provided us with a statewide vision for youth services,” says C. Allen Nichols, a former student and director of the Wadsworth Public Library. Reading these words, Brodie, who grew up in England, AR (pop. 3,000), and is now a professor at Ohio’s Kent State University School of Library and Information Science (SLIS), will be quick to argue that she couldn’t have done it alone, that support came from her colleagues at Kent State and scores of others throughout the state. This is no doubt true. But it’s Brodie who many point to as the wizard who revitalized Ohio’s youth services.

From the ground up

When Brodie arrived at Kent State, in 1989, with a newly minted Ph.D. from Texas Woman’s University, the education of Ohio’s school and youth librarians was in a state of crisis. Case Western Reserve, in Cleveland, had closed its library school in 1986, and Kent State’s program—the one program in the state accredited by the American Library Association (ALA)—had only “a very modest program in youth services,” according to Richard Rubin, SLIS’s director. At the same time, Ohio’s public libraries were booming. Ohio is unique in having state-level taxation for libraries, with the state providing libraries with the majority of their funding, resulting in the strongest public libraries in the country. “And we needed strong youth librarians to work in those libraries,” Brodie says. Brodie wanted an opportunity to build a program from the ground up—as a school librarian in Garland, TX, she had created two libraries—and Kent State provided her with the chance. She rolled up her sleeves and got to work developing a program. “There was no curriculum, no syllabi, no textbooks,” Brodie remembers. “We didn’t even own any children’s books.” What made those early years bearable was Ohio’s library community. “Everyone was so welcoming. I quickly met all these people who offered every type of support. This was real important to me personally.” Brodie created five courses—including courses about the very young child and young adults—and her students quickly began to mushroom. “After 10 years, my number of advisees topped out at over 200,” Brodie recalls. “You don’t keep these courses to yourself if you want the program to get bigger and better. I had to let go, let this program have a life of its own,” Brodie says. Along the way, the school has hired adjunct instructors in youth services and, in the last seven years, three full-time faculty members have come onboard. Still, many, like Cleveland Public Library’s Jamie Declet, cite Brodie as the inspiration for their careers. “When I started working in a library, children’s librarianship was the farthest thing from my mind,” says Declet. “Then I heard Dr. Brodie at a conference. Her passion was contagious.” Declet went on to attend Kent State through a “Laura Bush grant” from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)—one of the many scholarships that Brodie secured to attract a new generation of youth librarians. In recognition of Brodie’s excellence as a professor, the university presented her with its Distinguished Teaching Award in 2005.

On the road

After a faculty meeting during her second year, Brodie met Greg Byerly, also a new faculty member. It was a propitious meeting, and together the two would go on to collaborate for the next 20 years, securing more than $5 million in funds—much of it federal—to educate school and public librarians. Byerly, a former high school librarian, had a background in information technology, and had been Kent State’s systems librarian as well as a developer of statewide resources such as OhioLINK, the academic information network. With overlapping interests—but very different skill sets—Brodie and Byerly “created a partnership with an energy of its own,” says SLIS’s Rubin. “It’s clearly a case where the sum is greater than the parts.” The mid-’90s were the heady days when the World Wide Web began to explode. Brodie, with a deep background in education (in addition to her library degrees she has two masters in education, and is certified as a principal and a superintendent) was a natural to connect the burgeoning world of online content with schools. Working with INFOhio, the information network for Ohio’s schools, Brodie and Byerly crisscrossed the state, introducing educators to the Internet for the first time. Inviting teams of school librarians and classroom teachers, they conducted workshops in language arts, reading, the social sciences, fine arts, and science resources. “Sometimes what we were showing people was so basic, like how to bookmark,” Byerly remembers. Their road trips took on a routine, with Byerly driving while Brodie scribbled away on a legal pad as they brainstormed about new sessions or talked through a potential project. For many school librarians in Ohio, the names Byerly and Brodie became interchangeable. At the same time, Brodie herself conducted over 100 graduate-credit workshops at Kent State and around Ohio, opportunities to explore literature in greater depth, such as multicultural themes or state authors. “The toughest part is loading and unloading the books,” says Brodie. “That’s why I drive a Ford Explorer—and it’s floor to ceiling books.”

The collaboration grant

In 2002, the pair was contacted out of the blue by the office of U.S. Congressman Ralph Regula. The legislator wanted to fund an initiative to teach K–12 educators the value of school library collections. Regula was inspired, in part, by his daughter Martha, a school librarian. The initial funding of nearly $2 million through IMLS was followed two years later by an additional $745,000, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Education. Along with Kent State’s College of Education and the university library, SILS created the Institute for Library and Information Literacy Education (ILILE). Backed by ILILE, Brodie and Byerly embarked on an ambitious series of statewide training sessions that brought together school librarians and classroom teachers to foster collaboration with the goal of increasing student achievement. They have offered statewide workshops in specific content areas as well as on the school librarian as instructional consultant. All totaled, the two have reached hundreds—if not thousands—of Ohio’s educators. This spring, they held workshops in museums with school librarians, classroom teachers, and museum personnel to explore the rich digital resources museums offer. The sessions were some “of our most exciting,” Byerly says. “It was almost like our early workshops on the Web—educators had no idea these resources existed.”

The jewel in the crown

Of the pair’s many accomplishments, the Reinberger Children’s Library Center may be the most unique. In 2001, Brodie was approached by one of her graduating students. If she wanted support to do something for children’s services, the woman said, her family’s foundation might be able to help. Brodie admits she didn’t give the offer much thought initially, but when Byerly researched the Reinberger Foundation, Brodie was stunned to learn they supported large-scale building projects for educational and social service institutions. At that time, Brodie’s collection of materials for children and teens was bursting out of one small room. “I always thought youth librarians needed to 'have things,’” she says. “If you are going to work with children, you need to know the resources. And as a professor, I needed to model for my students—storytime, booktalking, and using big books and pop-ups.” Brodie had visited a niece in nursing school and was impressed with how the students there had a laboratory with an operating room and other real-life environments for practice. Youth librarians, she decided, needed a children’s library with a graduate classroom sitting inside it. What emerged was “the Reinberger,” pretty much anyone’s fantasy environment for educating youth librarians. Built at a cost of $340,000 (of which the foundation contributed $240,000 and the university the remainder), the library houses 9,000 volumes as well as materials in every possible format. An integrated library system—supplied through INFOhio—gives students experience in cataloging and collection management. Highsmith, the library and equipment vendor, was very generous in furnishing the library, which also features a state-of-the-art classroom and videoconferencing facility that allows Brodie to offer a class on picture books, for example, in which students in a variety of locations can all participate equally. What has been the impact of the Reinberger since it opened in 2003? “Number one is the students. It’s had a wonderful impact on their training for librarianship,” says Brodie. “Two, it’s been a huge draw for students who visit the school. Finally, it makes it clear that this is a school that values youth services.” Such solid commitment on the part of SLIS has led to other gifts. Last year SLIS received the Marantz Collection, a library of 21,000 picture books spanning more than 40 years. Acquired by Kenneth Marantz, a professor of art education at Ohio State, and his wife, Sylvia, a school librarian, the collection is unparalleled in its scope and organization—it’s arranged by illustrator as opposed to author. The collection will open this fall in a space adjacent to the Reinberger—and renovated with support by the Reinberger Foundation—with ample room for displays and study. While the Marantz Collection is clearly a great scholarly resource—and an asset for both art and library school students—it’s obvious that it excites Brodie on a personal level. Although she has always had her feet planted in both the print and digital worlds, Brodie has had a lifelong love affair with books. She has served on ALA’s Notable Children’s Books Committee, the Caldecott Committee, and twice on the Newbery Committee (once as chair). What’s ahead for Brodie? “The next part of my work will focus heavily on the Marantz Collection,” she says. “I’m interested in working more in the areas of early literacy and visual literacy.... I’d like to get a grant that would provide scholarships in these areas.” For Brodie, the renaissance has just begun.

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Brian Kenney, SLJ’s editor-in-chief, can’t wait to return to the Buckeye State.