Most will agree that classroom teachers make a big impact on the lives of their students. But there are others throughout a school district that also have a big impact on the kids’ lives. Dawn Castor is the librarian at Woodward High School and she says that playing a part in a student’s educational journey is something she really enjoys.

“When students trust me to advise them, whether it’s their next book or a source for research, that is something that I love about my job,” Castor said. “Teaching research skills is fun, it’s like a perpetual treasure hunt for the source or fact that makes a great research paper.  My favorite thing is when a self-professed non-reader comes to me and asks for a book like the one you gave them last time and they tell me how much they loved that one.”

Castor began working at Woodward as a para in 1989. She then obtained her Masters Degree in Library Media and worked in the library at Woodward MiddleSchool for three years before coming back to the high school in 1998.

Books have been a big part of Dawn’s life for as far as she can remember. She attributes her love of reading to her parents, but says there were others that were also influential.

“My parents are avid readers and I have always loved words and reading and escaping into a new world with a book since the time I learned, so of course my heroes in grade school and high school were my Language Arts Teachers and librarians.”

Castor has advice for parents in this technological age that we are in.

“Read,” she stated. “Read to your kids. Put away technology, turn off the tv and read–books and magazines and newspapers and e-readers and the backs of cereal boxes if that is still a thing. Have books readily accessible in your home. Being a reader is the biggest guarantee of student success in any academic subject.  It cultivates a hobby that is very affordable thanks to public libraries, very portable thanks to e-readers, and you’ll always know what to buy for gifts.”