Library literacy and support for local educators and students

Newsletter Q&A with Bella Silva

Bella is the new Education Services Specialist at JCLS.


What brought you to your current position?

Prior to this position, I spent many years in the field of education. Originally, I volunteered for a number of organizations and schools in addition to conducting private lessons for English language learners while I completed my training to become a full-time EFL teacher. Upon graduating, I worked for several years in Korea and Japan where I gained experience teaching the English language as well as core curriculum to children between the ages of 3 and 14. Upon returning to the US, I hoped to combine my educational background with my lifelong passion for libraries, and found a perfect fit with JCLS!

What do you think is the biggest challenge that students today face?

I think getting students to engage in the lesson can prove challenging, especially now with the temptation of technology pulling their focus. With this inattention comes a lack of motivation and students’ inability to individually apply what has been taught. There have been plenty of lessons I have planned and prepped for that I believed to be very exciting but when introduced to the classroom, fell flat of my expectations. I love to use as many hands-on activities as possible, to appeal to a variety of learners and make sure that everyone is engaged, but this requires a lot of prep time which educators often don’t have.

What is one library resource you wish more teachers knew about?

The Education Services team! We are here to assist both educators and students in capitalizing on the amazing resources of JCLS to serve any needs they have. We always seek to expand our audience as well as our partnership and programming with the educational community.


What is your favorite book memory?

From a young age I was enthralled with books and frequently visited my local library, so I have many fond memories. I think one that stands out is when I first started high school. My best friend and I had run through all the books at our middle school and were chomping at the bit for new options. Naturally, our first order of business was to spend our entire lunch breaks during the first week scouring the library, investigating every single book, and compiling a list of all the books we deemed worthy of reading. I think by the time we were finished the list was somewhere over 200+. Can’t say we actually read these in order, as the list got lost sometime during Sophomore year, but I hope to make students today as excited about reading and using the library’s resources as I was at their age.

What are you currently reading or what's on your list of books to read?

I am a big believer that the book is always better than its on screen adaptation (it is a rare occasion in which my steadfast belief has been disproven). As such, with the recent release of the “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” TV series, I have been rereading the Percy Jackson novels and companion series, partially to revisit this childhood favorite, but more importantly to debate the accuracies of the show with authority. Up next, I plan to read A Day of Fallen Night as soon as my hold is ready for pickup!

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