A Literature Lover’s Life
By Steven Scarpa, Associate Editor

Amidst walls decorated with the covers of the newest children's book releases, Lisa Von Drasek reads to attentive groups of three-year-olds and fourth graders. A happy student imitates Lisa's reading style.

When Bank Street School teacher/librarian Lisa Von Drasek saw a group of 12 three-year-olds heading up to her library for reading time one morning recently, she broke into a jog to meet them. She corrected herself and stage whispered to the Teaching K-8 magazine editors, "Oops. Walk, don't run."

The children, holding hands as they came into the library, settled down on the floor at Lisa's feet. From the moment she opened the picture book, the children never took their eyes off her. They stared raptly, mesmerized as her voice rose and fell, at times she sang and other times she growled the words. Lisa, a columnist for Teaching K-8, is a whirlwind of big hand gestures and facial expressions. You could tell the children had been encouraged to get involved with the story as they reacted right along with her.

"Who knew this was something you had to learn?" she said. "There is a technique to it: Don't make the kid seasick. Take a breath before you turn the page. Look at the kids' faces to see who's getting it. It's technical. Stuff somebody's got to tell you."

Von Drasek's love of all things literary began at a young age, when she first learned to read.

While Lisa chatted, the children worked comfortably, searching the stacks for the perfect book to take home. Lisa has created an atmosphere where children can explore wherever their imaginations lead. When the little ones walked out of the library, each proudly carried a carefully selected book. Lisa Von Drasek's work, at least for that hour, was done.

Creating a reading niche. The Bank Street School library, located on the Upper West Side of New York City hums with activity; graduate students are doing research as a procession of children prowl the stacks and parents stop by for kids' books. Bank Street School is a lab school servicing 500 pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students from all across the city. Lisa commented, "People think progressive education means we let the kids do whatever they want. Well, no!

"As teachers, we come together in our sections and we talk about how each child studies. How did something work? Who else has these issues?"

Students sprawl out in and around Lisa's newly purchased Alta Forma furniture.

Lisa as innovator. The library's walls are colorful and the room is bright. Gone from the children's room are the ubiquitous long tables and hard-backed chairs found in many other libraries. While attending an American Library Association conference recently, Lisa discovered Alta Forma furniture - colorful, pliable furniture shaped so that children can curl up in comfort while reading a good book. "You know, it wasn't a surprise to find out that kids love lying on the floor and reading, creating little cubbies, building caves," Lisa said. "I couldn't figure out how I would justify expense of soft furniture if it wouldn't last in a school setting. It's very durable. And it turned out that I had no problems with saying to a kid, 'How do we sit on this furniture when we are in class time as opposed to quiet reading time?'" Having crafted an inviting, cozy place for children to cultivate their own love of books, there is no place else Lisa would rather be.

A long road. Lisa took a somewhat circuitous route to education. She began her career as a manager and buyer for the Philadelphia Children's Museum and, after moving to New York City, began work in the publishing industry. She hadn't considered a career as a librarian until she heard a news broadcast one day. The president of the American Library Associa-tion was urging listeners to support their public libraries.

The president's statement intrigued Lisa. At the same time a librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library encourage Lisa to make a career change. "She told me I should be a children's librarian. It was a statement I could not ignore. She told me what librarians do and I realized I already knew a lot of stuff about libraries. I already knew the books. I already had 10 years in children's books. I loved being with kids. I loved being with parents and teachers. I liked working with the public. I realized that was part of what I was missing in publishing; I like working with people. And, I want to be of service. I want to be of service to something greater than a spreadsheet," she said.

A group of three-year-olds enjoy their selections from the library stacks..

After a year at the Brooklyn Public Library, a position opened up at Bank Street. "I went on the interview thinking that I didn't have a chance. I wouldn't want me. I would want someone who went to Bank Street to run my library on Bank Street," Lisa said laughingly.

Bank Street officials felt otherwise, and hired her seven years ago. "It's a great place to work. We think a lot about our practice. Having student teachers around is great because you have to make the time to involve yourself in best practice. So, I am grateful for all of that," she said.

Teaching the teachers. It's having those very student teachers that create one of the challenges of Lisa's job. In her willingness to be helpful to both student teachers and students, Lisa is inclined to take over and immediately fix whatever problem may be arising. "One of the things I have trouble with is letting go and letting student teachers make mistakes," she said. "That is the hard part for me because I want to tell them everything."

In addition to her work with student teachers, Lisa has to balance the research emphasis of a university library with the responsiveness of an elementary school library. "We are a library that serves graduate students, parents, teachers and children," Lisa said.

Lisa points out just the right book of Bank Street's 60,000 volume collection to a group of kids.

The Bank Street library houses 60,000 circulating children's books, and Lisa also benefits from the presence of the Bank Street bookstore just down the street from her.

Busy times. With book orders to be placed, among other things, Lisa's work doesn't end when the summer comes. "We are very busy because many teachers are taking professional development courses, so July here is a madhouse. There could be four or five children's lit courses, children's literature in the social studies and so on at the same time," she said.

Life long love. In an era where media specialists abound, Lisa revels in her title of "librarian." "I love the word librarian," she said.

Lisa's love of all things literary began at a young age, in a home filled with books. Remembering the importance her own family placed on reading, one of the first questions Lisa asks concerned parents is whether they are modeling reading for their children.

Even the beginning of her relationship with her husband was something out of a romance novel. When she was working at a bookstore, her future husband, a publisher's representative, would send her new books as gifts. "I was wooed by books," she said happily. "I would come home every night and there were always packages."

Lisa's home, by her own admission, is filled with piles of books - "an interesting decorating scheme," one friend jokingly told her. Her Bank Street office is in exactly the same predicament, filled with books in need of review and cataloguing. "On Saturdays I come in, close the door and sit on the floor and read," she said.

One might even say that Lisa's class time is always and everywhere. If Lisa is stuck in line somewhere, she will take out a book to entertain the children stuck along with her. Other times, while lounging in her home reading for pleasure, Lisa will be so overtaken by an image, a phrase or an interesting turn in a book that she will run onto her front porch, gather the neighborhood children around her and regale them with the story.

Lisa shares a good book with a group of enthusiastic fourth graders.

Happy readers. Later during Teaching K-8's visit, a group of fourth graders visited Lisa's library. The kids recited poetry along with Lisa before enthusiastically taking their turn in the stacks. "Do you know why you memorize poems? In case, you are stuck in an elevator without a book," she told them.

The children huddled over a reference book, excitedly looking at the pictures and talking to each other about what they were were reading. "Oh, this one is so good!" they told one another.

Lisa looked on approvingly, having won another group of hearts for literature.