Jean Darnell packed up her life and moved 1,500 miles away to Philadelphia because she believes in the promise of school libraries.
It’s a bold move for the nationally recognized educator from Texas, as Darnell has become the first Philadelphia School District library chief in years since the system let its school libraries wither starting in the 1990s.
At one point, the district had nearly 200 certified school librarians. In 2023-24, the district reported having the equivalent of just two full-time certified school librarians for its 216 schools, a ratio experts said was possibly the worst in the country.
Darnell has built a national reputation as The Awaken Librarian. She is a Pulitzer Center teacher fellow. She has served on the committee that chooses the Caldecott Medal, the revered children’s book prize. Earlier this year, she appeared on the Dr. Phil show discussing AI and the future of education. She talks fast and thinks faster. And she is not about to fail, she said.
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
