Summer 2025 BOCES Tour Reflections & Takeaways

I'm not sure when I first became aware of the BOCES system in New York state, but every year, for the last several, I've traveled to the Empire State to work with educators through these Boards of Combined Educational Services. Typically, a School Library Services director from one BOCES will contact me to inquire about partnering to offer professional development to the librarians, teachers and/or administrators in their component districts. From there, we begin the work of finding other BOCES that are interested in similar work and then we collaborate to schedule a week's worth of professional development - often stretching from one side of the state to the other. This summer, that work began just south of Buffallo, in Fredonia, and ended in Syracuse - with multiple stops along the way. These BOCES tours, as I've come to think of them, are as rewarding as they are exhausting. By the time I wrap things up at my final stop on the tour my energy reserves are empty, but my heart is always very, very full. This trip was no exception.

Still, the journey wasn't without hiccups. This, for example, is the meme I began each of my presentations with:

The first photo is my car, before heading to SeaTac, three suitcases at the ready: one filled with clothing and two filled with books. The second is the back of my rental car when I landed at Rochester. Naturally, the suitcase with my clothes is the one that failed to meet me at our final destination. (Note: the airline found it and it was sent back to my home, so all is well). I suppose the truth is that I'd rather the books arrive than the clothes. I managed to cobble together enough supplies to make it through the week (which taught me the important lesson of needing much less on these trips than I typically pack) AND I'd have been pretty heartbroken if the books I'd selected as giveaways for each day hadn't made it. So... a hiccup? Yes! A tragedy?? Nowhere near.

Brave Before Perfect:

Two of the BOCES that I worked with this spring requested a full-day workshop that included a breakfast keynote for both school library staff and their administrators. Over the years, I have keynoted MANY administrator breakfasts and... I love them, y'all!

First, I think it's incredibly important for us to be in community with one another - always - but perhaps now more than ever. We need one another. And it's my view that community is, at least in part, the antidote to so much of what ails us.

And, second, I will NEVER turn down an opportunity to help those who are NOT librarians, better understand our work. School administrators do not take a class called, "How to Collaborate With Your Librarian!" or "Supporting the Heart of The School: Your Librarian!" So... until these courses (or something like them) become part of principal preparation programs, I am more than happy to step in!

In that spirit, I gave some version of my Brave Before Perfect keynote, which is rapidly becoming my very favorite way to connect with an audience. I love to tell the story of how

libraries and librarians have shaped and changed my life, while also hammering home the following messages:

• libraries are more important than ever, and

• WE ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING THEM, so...

• we must WORK TOGETHER to protect one of our more essential public resources

Accessing student discussions at the airport

As an aside. these are the very same conversations I have with my Rutgers students each semester. Coincidentally, I happened to be in NY just as the summer semester was getting started, so I spent a lot of my "off time" engaging with student questions and discussion posts. The truth is, I looked forward to logging into Canvas each day. Joining their conversations from my hotel rooms, the airport, and once from a rest stop along highway 90, was both comforting and inspiring.

I also give away a lot of books during these events (which is why I am so glad they made it to NY!). Here's a video of one of those book hauls!

TikTok + Media Mindfulness:

Another hot topic during my week in New York was keeping our kids safe and savvy on apps like TikTok. Even though every district I worked with had already purchased copies of (and in some cases had taken a deep dive into) Developing Digital Detectives, my thinking around our relationship with information and social media, specifically, has continued to evolve since that book was published. The opportunity to share those thoughts with practitioners who were already using the book was incredible.

I think most of us are painfully aware that we live in a world where so much of what we see online feels is automated and monetized; fed to us by invisible algorithms that know just how to grab our attention. However, one critical point I try to emphasize is that despite the fact that it can feel as though everything we see is machine manipulated, behind every algorithm and every AI-generated post, are humans: real people making decisions about what gets amplified, what gets buried, and what emotions are most likely to keep us scrolling. Platforms like TikTok, Instagram and all the others, don’t just respond to our interests, our opinions and our fears; they shape them. And too often, they do so by triggering our BIGGEST feelings: fear, outrage, envy, fomo, belonging and connection.

With this in mind, in the years since Developing Digital Detectives hit bookshelves, I have continued to think deeply about the need to add emotional regulation to the work of information literacy. We know that once emotion becomes the driver of our behavior, it's next to impossible for our brains to do the work required to think logically and critically about whatever content triggered that emotion in the first place. What's more, bad actor count on us letting our emotions do the driving - because they know that emotional exploitation leads to engagement. And engagement drives revenue. In this context, I've been slowly shifting my own language away from "information literacy," choosing to emphasize the idea of "media mindfulness" instead. In my view, this is a separate BUT DEEPLY RELATED discipline that focuses on helping learners (of all ages) develop the habit of noticing how information makes them feel, naming those emotions and navigating those feelings BEFORE donning their fact checking hats. That said, while Developing Digital Detectives includes an exploration of these ideas, as my thinking has evolved. I've continued to update The Evidence Locker" (the website companion to our book) to include lessons and activities to support this work.

It was with all of this in mind that I shared one of my favorite tools for this work: picture books! While I'm not ready to share my ideas related to this yet, I will say that I'm incredibly grateful to the New York librarians who helped me continue to flesh out my thinking. More soon!

Following The Energy:

Some of you may remember that when I was in New York last year, I ran into John Schu in Rochester. In addition to going on plenty of BOCES tours himself, we also got to do one together a few years ago - which was the best time ever! This time around, while I was in NY, John was in Alaska (!) but I felt him with me all week. I posted this on Instagram as a way to share those feelings:

I used to struggle with how to give away books during presentations. I somehow always felt that no matter who I handed the book to, I was letting other people down. Then, John Schu told me to follow the energy. He said that he lets the energy of people in the room guide him to the hearts who need a book most. Of course, he was right. I've been following the energy ever since.

This week, as I've been working with librarians and school admins across upstate New York, I've given away a lot of books, but these two stories stand out to me.

Yesterday. after giving a quick book talk of On The Wings of La Noche, by Vanessa L Torres, I handed it to a librarian whose energy told me she needed it. The story centers, Noche, a 17 year old Lechuza who guides recently deceased souls to the afterlife, but who is unable to let go of her best friend, Dante, who also recently died... and whose spirit lingers and fades the longer Noche holds on to her.

During the break, the person I gifted the book to shared some photos of her best friend who recently died AND who looked nearly identical to the cover illustration. She said, "as you were talking about the book, I could feel Bree. And when you handed it to me, I knew she was making it happen." We both cried a little.

Today, one of the books I gave away was Kate Messner's The Trouble With Heroes. After my book talk, I followed the energy to a school admin who seemed to need it. This MG book centers the story of a young boy whose unresolved anger leads him to vandalize a gravestone in a local cemetery. When Finn is caught, and it turns out the grave belonged to the first woman to climb all 46 high Adirondack peaks, he's given the option of facing criminal charges or climbing all 46 peaks himself, in a single summer. AND with the woman's surviving dog - who just happens to drool a lot.

At the break, the person I gave it to came up and shared that he was a "46er" who was planning to climb the 46 peaks with this son - who has struggled with depression and anxiety. He said he was texting his son (who happens to look just Finn on the cover) when I handed him the book.

Books, y'all. There's so much magic in them."

My Presentations:

I share my slide decks as a way to give back to my community. However, because I keep finding examples of them online without attribution and/or being sold as someone else's original work, I've started posting decks as "view only." While you're more than welcome to view them, and I hope you find them helpful, options for downloading your own copy have been disabled. Please don’t send share requests. :)

Erie2 BOCES

Broome-Tioga + DCMO BOCES

Cayuga-Onodaga BOCES

O2CM BOCES