In reading about the power of stories, I reflected on some of the ways that a school library could give students more opportunities to tell and share their own stories.  At the school where I teach, our librarian has a program where she “publishes” (i.e. spiral binds) stories written by students and puts them on the shelves for others to enjoy.  Most participants are of elementary age, but I can imagine that my middle schoolers might enjoy something like an online blog or other interactive format where they can submit their stories and read the stories of their classmates as well, with the option to leave a positive comment or an emoji reaction.  This could be a chance for them to share their own life story or a fictional composition, poem, etc.

I also think that utilizing recording tools to allow students to tell stories would be an incredibly effective way to give them a voice.  I was impressed to read about the work done by StoryCorps and various libraries in letting people record their stories and then having them available to listeners on the web (Stephens, 2019).  It would be great to have a recording center situated within a school library makerspace where students could record single stories or even podcasts that would be available for their classmates to listen to.  I can think of several of my students who may be hesitant to share their story in a written format but would jump at the chance to share it through a recording, and considering the current popularity of podcasts and audiobooks, many students would appreciate having the opportunity to listen to their classmates’ stories in an audio form.

Image: United Federation of Teachers

I also found it quite interesting to learn about the power of emojis in communication.  Stephens (2025) points out that emojis are a form of literacy, which is something I hadn’t really thought a lot about before and was eye-opening to me.  It’s true that so much can be communicated through emojis alone, and there are so many opportunities to use them in creative ways.  My students would absolutely love the “Create Your Own Emoji” idea, as shared by Stephens (2019).  Another great idea is using emojis to tell the plot of a favorite novel or song lyrics for others to guess (Stephens, 2019).  I think it would be a lot of fun to have a bulletin board or wall in the library with students’ emoji compositions printed and displayed where others could guess which book or song they were describing.  One school librarian created a book display where she had volunteers match up emojis with books to display, then invited other students to choose their own favorite book and add it to the display table with an emoji of their choice (Dearnaley, 2016).  I think this is such a great way to get students sharing and communicating about books with each other using a visual language that is fun, eye-catching, and universally loved by young people.

Image: Madison’s Library

There are so many great ways to harness the power of stories in a school library community!  This was one of my favorite modules, and it gave me a lot to think about in terms of application to a school setting.  I certainly plan on keeping these ideas top of mind going forward as I transition into a library role.

 

References

Dearnaley, M.  (2016, October 18).  Display: Emoji reading.  Madison’s Library.  https://madisonslibrary.com/2016/10/18/display-emoji-reading/#:~:text=Emoji%20Reading%20Display,catching%20and%20a%20crowd%20pleaser.

Stephens, M. T. (2019). Wholehearted librarianship: Finding hope, inspiration, and balance. ALA Editions, an imprint of the American Library Association.

Stephens, M.T.  (2025).  Hyperlinked library power of stories. [Lecture recording].  Panopto.  https://sjsu-ischool.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=25a905bc-6739-4f68-afea-af10013f32fb