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High Ideals #RRockReads

I originally published this piece March 6, 2017 on Deepstacks - DragonLibrary's blog.


Skipping up the steps of the grand institution that resides at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street in Manhattan, the language arts educator and public school librarian in me appreciates the majestic Beaux-Arts building that I’m about to enter. But the suppressed ten-year-old in me secretly hopes that Cee-Lo Green will burst forth from Patience—his marble prison—and offer up a modern rendition of “I’m a Mean Old Lion.” And even the sobering knowledge that no such whimsy will come to fruition on this day is incapable of sapping my joy.  Having waited these many years, the mere thought of spending my morning on a reading date in the hallowed halls of the New York Public Library prompts a hedonistic flush that can only be rivaled by the fond childhood memory of myself paying gold-lamé-clad homage to Ted Ross’ high-stepping, ousted leader of the pride.







After a short jaunt down the first floor to room 117, I sigh, nestle into a chair, and take out my tablet to read. Basking in sensuous decadence, I glide my palms over the multi-hued inlaid wood that tops the banquet length table where I’m seated.  I stroke the sculpted table leg and note the many globes that have been tucked into this reading room’s various nooks and crannies. If only I’d taken a selfie.



Round Rock I.S.D. libraries are kicking off a literacy awareness social media campaign entitled #RRockReads. ​​It will start as a campus challenge over Spring Break, ​grow ​into a community challenge in April, and continue ​through the summer. The goal is to have students, faculty, staff, and community members read for fun, to learn, to create, to share, and to grow. Participants are encouraged to share pictures on Twitter and/or Instagram that demonstrate What? Where? or How? they are reading, to deploy the hashtag #RRockReads, and to tag their libraries and librarians (@rrhslib, @SaraSPavone, & @cetaylor05)



Spring 2017 Campaign T​imeline
  • March 1-19: Springbreak Campus #RRockReads Challenge
  • March 23: RRISD School Board, Superintendent, and Community Challenge for National School Library Month (April)
  • April: Continue to highlight our community of Readers!
  • April: National School Library Month
  • Summer: Grow our community of readers!
​ ​
As for my book adventure… opulent though it was, my NYPL reading escape was merely a well-appointed side room, while the main reading room was closed for renovation.


Clearly, I’ll simply have to return for the full experience. (And to get that selfie!)

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