Tom Bober | Movers & Shakers 2018 – Innovators

Students who can confidently analyze primary sources “look at things with a critical eye,” says school librarian Tom Bober. But cultivating this crucial skill can be daunting, as he discovered as a classroom teacher. After attending the Library of Congress (LC) Summer Institute in 2013, however, Bober was armed with strategies—and ready to spread the word.
Tom Bober

CURRENT POSITION

Library Media Specialist, Ralph M. Captain Elementary School Library, Clayton, MO

DEGREE

MA, Information Science and Learning Technologies, University of Missouri Columbia, 2011; MSE, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, 2001

FAST FACT

Worked for ten years in his grandfather’s bakery and still loves reworking old recipes

FOLLOW

@CaptainLibrary on Twitter; Tom Bober on AASL's Knowledge Quest; Tom Bober on Teaching with the Library of Congress

Photo by Douglas Gritzmacher

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Primary Sourc-erer

Students who can confidently analyze primary sources “look at things with a critical eye,” says school librarian Tom Bober. But cultivating this crucial skill can be daunting, as he discovered as a classroom teacher. After attending the Library of Congress (LC) Summer Institute in 2013, however, Bober was armed with strategies—and ready to spread the word.

Since 2014, he’s given more than 40 presentations on primary sources. In 2016, he approached Margaret Sullivan, then past president of the Missouri Association of School Librarians, about leading two-day workshops in four cities in summer 2017; an LC grant they wrote covered 80 percent of the cost.

Bober inspired participants to create dynamic lesson plans by analyzing pictures and maps, searching LC resources, thinking like a historian, and connecting learning goals and primary sources. He provided them with free resources, many available through LC’s website. “Even librarians in schools with small or no library budgets have access [to these tools],” says Sullivan. “Because of Tom Bober, primary sources are being used...in school libraries all across Missouri.”

Bober isn’t stopping there. He fields questions from librarians and demonstrates through Knowledge Quest blog posts how to pair historical documents with picture books for powerful lessons. “Sharing and working with others in the field makes me a better educator, and I’m honored and humbled to be able to give back,” says Bober.

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Mike McQueen

Love this! Students need to understand primary sources - now more than ever. Yay Tom!

Posted : Mar 24, 2018 03:14


Victoria Jones

Such a well-deserved honor! I feel lucky to have learned so much from Tom and am proud to call him my colleague. Children, librarians and teachers across the state of Missouri and the country benefit from Tom's commitment to sharing the importance of primary sources.

Posted : Mar 17, 2018 05:55


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