Northside Libraries are the heart of each school community, creating meaningful and diverse learning opportunities, nurturing in our students a love for reading and learning, and developing in them the skills necessary to fully participate in society.
Our libraries purchase and maintain a current, relevant, and diverse collection of over two million print and digital materials for both study and pleasure.
Striving to Support Learning
#NISDLibraries
82 Elementary School Libraries
21 Middle School Libraries
13 High School Libraries
1 Professional Libraries
Northside ISD has a total of 116 campus libraries and 1 professional library located at NAC.
All NISD libraries are staffed by professional, certified librarians. High school libraries also have a paraprofessional library assistant.
Studies consistently find positive relationships between having access to full-time, qualified school librarians and student performance.
Recently, all Northside libraries enjoyed a range of improvements: from major renovations to redecorating. This ensures every student an updated, enjoyable and flexible learning space.
Please visit our photo gallery for more images of our newly renovated libraries
Northside ISD Libraries - 2022-2023 Yearly Report
#NISDLibraries serve as hubs for our schools: gathering places for students, staff, and families. They are a safe space for everyone on campus, offering a variety of lessons, activities, and opportunities. This number represents individual visits by students, teachers, parents, and more.
NISD Librarians are certified teachers who hold masters degrees and a K-12 library certificate. NISD librarians served more than 68,000 classes this school year in a variety of capacities. These include story times, collaborative lessons, research lessons, class check-outs, and more, all supporting the curriculum as well as student learning and engagement. Academic achievement increases when students receive instruction from school librarians both with classroom teachers and independently.
Facebook post from @NISDLib showing 6th grade reading conferences in the Jefferson MS library
NISD Librarians are certified teachers who hold masters degrees and a K-12 library certificate. NISD librarians served more than 68,000 classes this school year in a variety of capacities. These include story times, collaborative lessons, research lessons, class check-outs, and more, all supporting the curriculum as well as student learning and engagement. Academic achievement increases when students receive instruction from school librarians both with classroom teachers and independently.
Facebook post from @NISDLib showing 6th grade reading conferences in the Jefferson MS library
Author visits increase interest in reading and writing. Seeing performers and speakers connects students to the arts and the work world.
Facebook post from @NISDLib showing an author visit from Jerry Pallotta
Northside librarians kept students engaged and reading through creative programming during the 2022-2023 school year. Reading programs, Book Fairs, various clubs, interactive displays, story walks, makerspaces, STEM projects, and so much more were offered this year. A robust library program increases student engagement at school overall.
Access to both print and digital books is a critical part of learner growth and helps close the poverty gap. A professional librarian curates the collection to meet the needs of the school community, and helps students choose the right books and other materials for academic and pleasure reading.
Print books are still far more popular with patrons than digital books. Children who read more, even just for fun, consistently do better in school and life.
Tweet from @EagleJms showing students reading in the library
Access to both print and digital books is a critical part of learner growth and helps close the poverty gap. A professional librarian curates the collection to meet the needs of the school community and helps students choose the right books and other materials for academic and pleasure reading.
Library Services maintains a district-wide collection of ebooks and audiobooks through Sora, and it has seen an increase in usage this past year. Audiobooks are particularly popular as more and mroe patrons want to listen while driving, working out, and doing chores. Stories are an important part of humanity and it is important to provide access in as many forms as possible.
Tweet from @RivetingReads (Cole ES) showing students using Sora to read ebooks
Recognitions
Nine NISD Librarians won NEF (Northside Education Foundation) grants this year to fund a variety of programs including makerspaces, 3D printing, reading hammocks, robotics, and a poetry festival.
Ross MS librarian, AJ Talamantes won 2 grants to grow the gardening initiative on that campus, and Valley Hi ES librarian Jennifer Grimes was a recipient of the 2023 Laura Bush Grant for Libraries.
Congratulations to all our grant winners!
Tweets from librarians showing their grants:
NISD Librarian Educators of the Year, 2022-2023
- Karen Piedra, librarian at Beard ES
- Mary Mosley, librarian at Langley ES
- Elida Madrigal, librarian at Wernli ES
Tweet from @NISDLib celebrating the NISD Librarian Educators of the Year
Northside Librarians won a slew of awards this year! Congratulations and thank you for your hard work!
Texas Library Association Awards (state-wide)
- Distinguished Service - Virginia Bigler, Harlan HS
- Distinguished Administrator Award - Shawn McKenzie, Folks MS
- Shirley Igo Award (PTA/Library Partnership) - Folks MS PTA & Library
- Demco/Upstart Innovative Programming Award for ”Treat YA Self: Professional Development Uniting Librarians, Teachers, and Curriculum Specialists"
- Connie Lippenholz, Brandeis HS
- Sheryl Stoeck, O'Connor HS
- Lucy Podmore, Clark HS
- Elsa Trevino-Dominguez, Taft HS
- Melissa Santellan, Holmes HS
- Denise Meacham, Jay HS
- Barbra Bloomingdale, HS ELA Coach
- HEB won the Benefactor Award for their continued support of LibraryPalooza
Camila Castro, librarian at Neff MS, won the Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio's Hope for Humanity Educator Award for her work teaching students about the Holocaust.
Library Services also awarded Langley ES Principal Aydee Ruiz-Ufland the NISD Distinguished Library Service Award for School Administrators for her dedication to promoting literacy and advocating for the library program at her school.
- 430 Campus Visits
- 110 Librarians sent to conferences
- 60 PD sessions facilitated
- Assisted with 25 weeding projects
- 88,184 Records loaded
- 10,734 Items processed
The Northside Library Services office, lead by Director of Library Services, Lisa Kulka, includes 3 Library Support Specialists, 2 catalogers, and 1 secretary/bookkeeper. This office works to support all Northside librarians by providing professional development opportunities, visiting campuses, helping with large collection development projects, maintaining the circulation/catalog system and district ebook collection, coaching librarians, opening new school libraries, making sure each library is fully staffed, and much more.
- 115 Libraries staffed by certified librarians
- 1 Professional library
- 13 Full-time library assistants
Northside ISD has a total of 115 campus libraries and a professional library located at NAC that circulates material to teachers all over the district. All NISD libraries are staffed by professional, certified librarians. High school libraries also have a paraprofessional library assistant. Studies consistently find positive relationships between having access to full-time, qualified school librarians and student performance.
One new school was opened in 2022 - Sotomayor HS. It's a gorgeous library and is already a popular place!
Tweet from @SotoCatsLibrary showing the new library.
Bond money continues to be used to improve libraries across Northside, including at Hull ES, which got a much-needed brand new library space. Thank you for voting for the NISD bonds!
NISD librarians organized 4 district-wide events this year that were open to all. The goal of these programs is to promote literacy, connect students with authors, increase access to books, and promote the joy of reading.
- Nerdvana Con celebrates graphic novels and comic books for secondary students.
- LibraryPalooza is Northside's premier YA author fest and allows secondary students to interact with some of their favorite authors.
- The Great Book Giveaway is a drive-through event that was held at Brennan HS, O'Connor HS, and Holmes HS this year. Over 15,000 books were given to families!
- Storyfest is an author fest for elementary students and is a great family event each spring.
- Fiesta of Words is a poetry event for secondary students, featuring a poetry contest, live readings, and a visit from a Texas poet.
NISD Library Services maintains subscriptions to a large collection of digital websites and resources to help your child access reliable and organized information in which to research or study. Your child can access this great collection on our NISD SSO portal
On our Library Services website on the NISD SSO portal we have an extensive variety of resources, games, and lessons to help students, parents and educators be better informed and obtain the skills to be smart and safe online. We offer parents resources and activities including reviews of the popular apps, movies, and shows our kids are using and watching. We have materials in Spanish as well as English. You and your child can access these on our NISD SSO portal
As well as great Digital Citizenship resources we offer parents and entire families books and resources on wellness and social emotional learning. We offer a collection of online makerspaces as well as an extensive collection of summer enrichment activities and resources for students of all ages. You and your child can access these on our NISD SSO portal
Contact Us
Library Services
| Zinnia Bayardo | 397-8185 |
| 397-8199 | |
| 397-7568 | |
| 397-8188 | |
| Dianne Sparks | 397-8189 |
Volunteers help make the difference at Northside
How can you help support your library?
FONL's (Friends of Northside Libraries) mission is to promote and support the vital role of the school library in the educational experience.
