Dynamo: Nancy Teger, Florida Department of Education

Nancy Teger is known for getting things done. When the Florida Department of Education (DOE) couldn't fund databases for every school in the state, Teger, DOE's program director for media services, got them by working with the state library. When school librarians lost their sense of direction under the pressure of high-stakes testing and level funding, she brought them together to create an evaluation model for school libraries, ExC3EL—Expectations for Collaboration, Collections, and Connections to Enhance Learning.

She collaborated with language arts program coordinatorsto ensure that information literacy was explicitly included in state standards. Now, she's working on statewide data collection to analyze the relationship between school libraries and students' reading scores.

That's just a sampling of Teger's accomplishments, reflecting her motto: “Only she who attempts the absurd, achieves the impossible.” No wonder media specialist Karen Terilli says, “Nancy Teger just plain tires me out. I can't think of another person with more ideas or energy.”

That energy propelled Teger toward a doctorate in information sciences. When PCs came along, she says, “The world and my profession were changing, and I was not going to be left behind!” She doesn't buy excuses from library programs that don't adapt or don't use technology. “Find a way to make it happen,” she exhorts.

Librarians trying to do that couldn't have a better friend. Media specialist Karen Herzog calls her “a visionary and continual mentor for all the media specialists she's worked with or taught.”