- I grew up on a farm.
Really small town.
A lot times, what you know
and what you see around you,
you think that's all that there is.
Books are windows to the world.
And my job is to introduce the world to the students.
I live about 20 minutes away.
So on my way to school,
sometimes there's Amish buggies,
sometimes it's a school bus,
sometimes it's a deer.
Welcome to Milton, Pennsylvania.
(laughs)
- The books are really important to read
and I love them.
- I like to come to Ms. Killian's library
because we use robots, like tablets and stuff.
We get to read books.
- In order to prepare our students
for their futures,
they need to be involved in using technology.
- [Cathy] Libraries offer knowledge, knowledge is power.
- The Milton area's School District is
delaying the start of school by three weeks!
- First days of class delayed because of mold.
- Mold. - Mold.
- Mold.
- Air quality concerns.
- Air quality issues.
- The heavy rains we've experienced are being blamed.
(electronic blip)
- People came into their classrooms,
and into their buildings emptied.
If anything is mold-infected it needs to be removed.
To see 30 yard trailers being discarded,
and that was catastrophic.
The library lost thousands and thousands of books.
We stood back and said,
"Oh, my gosh. How are we going
to replenish everything that's gone?"
Karey rose up.
And she said, "What am I going to do
"to help fill these shelves up again?"
- [Karey] I had no idea how much was lost.
The hardest part for me was
just being strong for the students.
- [Girl] I miss the books that were in the library.
- [Girl] We've lost a lot of books,
and a couple of them we lost were my favorites.
- [Karey] Mrs. Killian my favorite's books not here.
And I said, you know what?
Just please write that down for me,
because there's going to be
opportunities to us to get new books,
and I'm going to need to know what they are.
- [Boy] These are the books that
I really want back in the library.
- [Girl] I really want these books in the library.
- [Girl] I really wish we had
these books back in the library.
- [Boy] The books I want.
- [Girl] These books are, Bad Kitty...
- [Girl] Piggy and the Elephant.
(students clamoring answers)
- Every library class,
I have students that say,
"Hey, did you get that book that I asked for yet?"
And I said, "I'm working on it!"
(laughs)
- [Cathy] This community has stood together
in the face of fires and floods.
We are survivalists as educators.
We're figuring it out,
because we're so creative with resources
to restore what was lost.
I feel like we're a phoenix
rising out of the ashes.
But you didn't really have
ashes to see, we had mold.
(inspirational orchestral music)
- [Karey] The students are fantastic,
when I try something new,
I'm like I have no idea what I'm doing,
do you guys want to be the first ones to try it out?
Their eyes just always light up,
yeah, we'll be that first class!
A librarian is so much more
than just keeper of the books.
This is a space that we can
offer learning activities for
every child in the school.
- How many different types
of species has Yellowstone Park found?
- [Karey] Students have access to more
than just what's in their classroom.
More than just what's in their homes.
They're going to try something
brand new and branch out
and find a new passion.
Start to learn and understand
different cultures, different ways of life.
Think about things in a different way.
Because I want them to be global collaborators,
and I want them to be connected learners.
What do my students need to learn for life?
(inspirational orchestral music)
- Please join me in welcoming Karey Killian.
- [Karey] (laughs) Thank you!
- I have a surprise for Karey.
She doesn't know this,
while you're here,
Microsoft employees are gonna be trucking
new books to your libraries, to create...
- [Karey] (laughs) Oh, thank you! (laughs)