430 episodes listed below
Practical conversations for working school librarians.
School Librarians United treats the school library as a working hub, not a quiet backdrop. Through energetic conversations, it turns library space, student privacy, book clubs, curriculum collaboration, and conflict into usable professional examples.
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School Librarians United is a long-running professional conversation about the daily realities of school librarianship. It treats the library as a program, a place, a service point, and a community promise. The show is warm, brisk, and deeply practical. Amy Herman tends to frame each topic through the kinds of questions school librarians actually ask while running a library: Who needs this space? What gets interrupted when it closes? Which teacher partnership is realistic to start with? What policy affects student privacy before anyone notices? Recent episodes show a broad view of the job. A conversation about place looks at the library as a home base for students, including what happens when testing or scheduling disrupts access. A high school math and science episode breaks collaboration down into modest first steps, from flexible classes to existing teacher relationships. A book club conversation moves from inspiration to concrete programming examples across grade levels. The student privacy episode gets into filters, E-rate, child internet protection rules, and the practical limits of one-size-fits-all technology rules. Other discussions address hidden student needs, cross-curricular connection, staff communication, conflict resolution, soft censorship, and professional resources for school librarians at different stages. The show works because it lets examples carry the argument. It is not detached theory. It is the sound of practitioners comparing notes, naming friction points, and turning experience into something another librarian can adapt. Amy Herman’s role is part interviewer and part advocate for the profession. The result is useful for listeners who need encouragement, but even more useful for those who need an idea they can bring to school on Monday.
Made for: School Librarians United is for novice and veteran school librarians and educators who work with school library programs. It also suits administrators or teacher collaborators who want a clearer sense of what modern school libraries do.
What sets it apart: The show stands out by staying close to the nuts and bolts: schedules, filters, book clubs, teacher partnerships, library space, and student access. Its strength is the way guest experience gets translated into concrete, school-ready examples.
Tune in as Amy Hermon tackles the issues and challenges school librarians face everyday.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Amy Herman turns school library challenges into practical conversations grounded in student needs, professional judgment, and usable examples.
Amy Herman runs each conversation toward a working problem: how to handle conflict, protect student privacy, make programming inclusive, or connect the library with classroom subjects.
Dino-November gets a second chance for students who missed the morning fun; you hear how it happened.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A school library is measured in access, routine, and belonging.
Episode 361 of School Librarians United centers on A Sense of Place, School Libraries at the Heart of Learning, Connection and Belonging by Hannah Bird Little, published by Bloomsbury, and treats the school library as a living part of daily student life rather than a static room…
A grounded case for beginning math and science collaboration with the class and teacher already within reach.
Episode 360 speaks to a common professional hesitation: how a school librarian can step into math and science collaboration without acting like a geometry or Algebra 2 specialist.
A practical look at youth book clubs, with chapter 4 carrying the most usable details.
School Librarians United turns to Stacey Brown's Revolutionize Youth Book Clubs for a practical look at building book clubs from elementary school through high school, with chapter 4 standing out for book titles and activities.
Amy Herman and Heather Horner make student privacy, filters, and policy easy to follow.
School Librarians United makes student privacy feel practical rather than abstract, tracing filters, central office control, and the rules that shape what schools block.
A thoughtful review of how school librarians connect people, subjects, and possibilities across a school community.
School Libraries Supporting Students with Hidden Needs and Talents centers on the school librarian as a connector across the school community.
Conflict resolution stays practical, especially when email threads start doing the least helpful thing possible.
School Librarians United offers a plainspoken look at how school librarians handle friction with administrators, vendors, and other colleagues.
A warm case for the school library as a shared space where teachers, students, and subjects can connect.
School librarianship is presented as a deeply connective role: linking students, teachers, administrators, grade levels, and subject areas through the shared space of the library.
A dinosaur-themed library event becomes a practical lesson in making room for every student.
Inclusive programming comes into focus through a Dino-November story: a student advisory team plans the event, an inflatable dinosaur costume helps draw the morning crowd, and the library makes room for students in the autism room who love dinosaur books by giving them their own…
Library life, reported from the inside.
Héctor and Beto dissect Mexican grammar, slang, and news in native-speed Spanish conversations.
Small habit changes meet hands-on AI experiments.
A call-in helpline where listener questions turn into reported science and history investigations.
Host Amy Hermon discusses inclusive programming with guests Stacey Gilbert and Rachel Grover, both school librarians from Northern Virginia.
Host Amy Hermon interviews Carla Collins, author of 'School Libraries Supporting Students with Hidden Needs and Talents'.
School librarian Amy Herman interviews Tara Cooper about the subtle pressures and practices of soft censorship in school libraries.
Amy Herman introduces episode 301 of School Librarians United, discusses visiting the Denver Public Library, and previews an interview with Sam Helmick about LibLearnX.
Abby Thompson is the only librarian in a one-building district in Rangeley, Maine, serving pre-K through age 22 from one library.
On School Librarians United, Amy Hermon interviews editor Erica Long about the book Why Are All the Black Librarians Gathering in the School Library?
["Hannah Bird Little says a holiday-party question about whether librarians are still needed because of the internet pushed her to write A Sense of Place, School Libraries at the Heart of Learning, Connection and Belonging.", "Amy Herman introduces Hannah as a 29-year library veteran and recalls seeing the book at the Bloomsbury booth during AASL 25 in St.
["Episode 360 of School Librarians United follows Megan Major\u2019s session on bringing math and science into a high school library, recorded after Amy Hermon saw her talk at the Virginia Association of School Librarians conference in Williamsburg, Virginia.", "Major says she is a fifth-year librarian in Loudoun County, Virginia, after 10 years teaching high school history and geography and building only limited math background through IB geography.", "She describes starting with conceptual physics, data science, and Breakout EDU pop-ups, then expanding into more ambitious work like an Algebra One SOL 'carnival of math.'", "Her examples include mousetrap cars built from donated CDs and a podcast studio with PodTrak gear, all aimed at making the library useful beyond books and research."]
School Librarians United episode 359 centers on Stacey Brown's Revolutionize Youth Book Clubs, published by Bloomsbury, with Amy Herman leading a practical interview about school-based reading groups.
Amy Herman's School Librarians United episode 358 talks with Heather Horner, a Portland Public Schools high school librarian and Law for Librarians trainer, about student privacy.
Amy Herman interviews Carla Collins about her book on supporting students with hidden needs and talents in school libraries.
Host Amy Herman brings together six veteran school librarians, including Maura Madigan, Blake Hopper, and Becky Calzada, for episode 354 of School Librarians United to share conflict-resolution strategies.
Amy Herman interviews Maura Madigan about her book 'The School Librarian's Guide to (Almost) Everything' on the School Librarians United podcast.
School librarian Amy Herman interviews Tara Cooper about the phenomenon of soft censorship in school libraries and how librarians can navigate it.
Amy Herman introduces the podcast and encourages school librarians to share their presentations with a wider audience.