“Mrs. Smith? My computer isn’t working!” is an everyday phrase spoken by many students to our librarian, Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith plays a vital role when it comes to helping the LHS community adapt to the changes taking place at Ledyard, such as the Albert update, the PowerSchool shutdown, our email and password changes, etc. Mrs. Smith focuses on creating a cozy, peaceful environment for her students in the library/media center and it has become a safe place for many students. Emily Goodrich, a senior at LHS states, “With the 100+ times I have sat in the library with Mrs. Smith, I can confidently say I have never felt uncomfortable and look forward to my daily book recommendations from her.” We have all seen Mrs. Smith helping students pick out books or sitting in her “nook” in the library. But what does she do outside of the library?

For starters, Mrs. Smith graduated high school and attended Providence College for undergrad. There, she earned a degree in economics and math. Mrs. Smith then decided to change her career pathway, and attended Southern Connecticut State University for her masters. She earned a degree in library science, resulting in her earning her teaching certificate. With this degree, Mrs. Smith spent her time working at elementary schools for 20 years, until she decided it was time to move to the high school. 

Now, Mrs. Smith enjoys spending her time with her family, as well as spending time with her goldendoodle, Bailey, and a cat, Shadow. When she is not in the library, you will never catch Mrs. Smith without a book in her hand. And, she occasionally meets Mrs. Dahl, who is the Ledyard Middle School art teacher, at Napatree Beach to walk and look at the water. 

I asked Mrs. Smith what made her want to pursue her career in being a librarian and she said, “One reason was because when I was little my mom couldn’t drive, so we would walk a mile to the library once or twice a week, and I loved it and would spend hours reading. Also, in elementary school, I did not have a good librarian and I always wanted to make the library awesome for little kids. I also really liked working at the public library as a teenager. Oh, and I love the research part of it, I love investigating.” 

Mrs. Smith puts so much dedication into the library, which shows how much she cares for the LHS community. 

Junior Ally Keefe is a staff writer for the 2021-2022 Colonel Newsmagazine. She is a dedicated cat and fish mom. She enjoys spending all her money on things she doesn’t need. And when she is not working, she is with her besties!