Whether it is a matter of advising students, organizing the textbooks, managing the computer lab, or simply maintaining the school library, Mrs. Phillips does it all! As the school year of 2014-2015 commences, Yorba Linda High School welcomes its new librarian, Mrs. Phillips.

A lover of literature, Mrs. Phillips began her career as an English teacher. Although she had initially considered the idea of becoming a librarian during college, she was unaware that there were more to librarians than working in public libraries. That, in addition to the discouraging job prospects for librarians during the time, encouraged her to pursue a career teaching English. After acquiring a teaching credential in English, she began to teach at Esperanza.

Esperanza’s librarian immediately recognized that she would make a successful librarian; as a result, Mrs. Phillips agreed to split the day with her. She became a librarian during the mornings, and an English teacher during the afternoons. After the librarian retired, however, Mr. Flynn (the Esperanza principal at the time) arranged for her to work full-time as the Esperanza librarian.

In 2005, Mrs. Phillips and her husband sought a change from the urban area of Anaheim, so they purchased a house in Arizona with a reputable district and neighborhood to begin a family. She left Esperanza and began working at Catalina Foothills High School in Arizona. Yorba Linda High School’s previous librarian, Mrs. Kosalandich, became the newest Esperanza librarian. Yet, after Mrs. Phillips and her husband had a daughter, they decided that they wanted to be near their other family members, so they moved back. After she returned, Mrs. Kosalandich was retiring from Yorba Linda High School, so Mr. Flynn suggested that she replace her position as the librarian.

What is the best part of YLHS? Mrs. Phillips loves the interaction she has with the entire school. Working with teenagers may be the best aspect, for she values being a promoter of reading and literacy. As the current librarian, Mrs. Phillips loves the cooperation and friendliness that Mr. Flynn, the teachers, and the students have shown, since establishing good relationships would encourage people to utilize the library.

Mrs. Phillips is zealous in planning the library’s goals for this school year. It is opened every day at 6:45 a.m.(except Mondays when it opens at 8:15 a.m.), and it is closed at 3:45 p.m.(except Fridays when it closes at 3:00 p.m.). The library is also offering a math tutor, Mr. Herrick, who will help students on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays throughout the year.

Not only that, but Mrs. Phillips has also been working with the Valencia librarian, Mrs. Millam, for digital citizenship. What is digital citizenship? It is the idea of knowing that there is also a digital footprint that one leaves after using social media. She hopes to encourage students to become responsible users of information, rather than plagiarize. Furthermore, she has also been recording data to maintain statistics for the library. The library track is utilized to demonstrate how often and for what reasons the library is being used. Why? A few years ago, the PYLUSD district was opting to eliminate the position of all its librarians. Thankfully, the community coalesced to protest the decision. Just in case such a predicament may present itself again, Mrs. Phillips intends to use the library track to show that the data indicates that people need librarians.

During her leisure time, Mrs. Phillips enjoys reading non-fiction books that read as fiction (such as Three Cups of Tea or Into the Wild), biographies, or classics. One of her most cherished books is The Great Gatsby because she loves the story, and the great experience she had teaching it.

Students may not know that Mrs. Phillips was once a foreign exchange student in high school. She travelled to France for a summer and studied, staying with a host family. She is passionate about information literacy, her marriage, and enabling people to access a variety of information, despite their circumstances. A motto she treasures is “If nothing in my library offends you, then you’re doing it wrong.”

Mrs. Phillips aspires to always be available for students of Yorba Linda High School. She never wants to hear students say, “I don’t want to bother you…” because she wants to be bothered! She strives to be a resource to students on any subject area or personal interests. Mrs. Phillips advice to students is to learn how to use databases because it is a major source of reputable information, since the Google search engine may sometimes be misleading.

All in all, Mrs. Phillips is a great addition to the Yorba Linda High School staff, and she will further improve the library with her many aspirations!