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 He fields questions from librarians and demonstrates through Knowledge Quest blog posts how to pair historical documents with picture books for powerful lessons.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.