Jenny Peirce has been the Library Media Educational Technology Specialist for the last 5 years at Kearns High School. Before that she was an STS and eMints Instructional Coach for 5 years. She started her career at Granite teaching 4th grade at Beehive Elementary.

Her faculty says that they love having her at Kearns. She keeps the school running smoothly and is always willing to help. One teacher made the comment, “Jenny is always so patient even when I ask the same question over and over again. We are so fortunate to have her at Kearns HS.”

Jenny is creative, does monthly promotions and makes sure that students feel welcome and that they have all the new releases. 

What books are currently on your nightstand?

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch and Still Life with Tornado by A.S. King

What was the last great book you read?

I tend to enjoy almost every book I read and think they’re all at least pretty good, if not great, but the last book I read that really stood out for me as a great book was Bone Gap by Laura Ruby.

The last book that made you cry?

The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

The last book that made you laugh?

Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudson

What kind of reader were you as a child? What childhood books and authors stick with you the most?

I was an avid reader as a child. I would stay up and read until late in the night. As a child, I loved The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler Warner, and Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maude Montgomery. Another favorite author was E.B. White. As a teen, I read books mainly written for adults. Aside from novels that were assigned for school, Amy Tan stands out as an author whose works I enjoyed reading as well as The Clan of the Cave Bear series by Jean M. Auel.

What is the best book you were required to read as a student?

I don’t know if it was the best book, but the most memorable was Lord of the Flies.

What book did you hate reading as a student?

I can’t think of any I really hated. There were some I didn’t like as much as others. I
remember struggling to stay motivated when reading William Faulkner.

What is your favorite book to recommend to students?

I try to recommend something I think they’d like based on what I know about their reading habits, so it’s different for each student. However, right now a couple of my favorites are Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson and The Young Elites series by Marie Lu.

If you could only bring three books to a desert island, which would you pack?

What has been your most successful library promotion?

Blind Date with a Book. I’ve done it a few times and it’s always quite successful. Students are really excited to find out what book they’ve checked out based on what little information they have on the book. I have them fill out a Rate Your Date form and a few have commended that they would never have checked out the book but ended up really enjoying it.

What are some of your favorite promotions?

• Every year we celebrate Banned Books Week. I create a display of banned and challenged books and include the reason each book was banned or challenged.  I love hearing the discussions the students have regarding the books.
• Blind Date with a Book is really fun!
• Book Trailer Thursdays, where I show book trailers in the library during lunches. It’s a fun, easy way to spread the word about new or great books.
• Library Craft Ideas
• Makerspaces
• Author Visits
• Beehive Book Nominees

What do you like most about your job?

I love it when students return a book and tell me that they really enjoyed it and are excited to pick out another (especially if it’s a book I recommended to them).  Though it’s daunting, I also enjoy reading YA books to find books to recommend to students.

Spotlight compiled by Cindy Moyle, Library Supervisor for Secondary Schools in Granite School District. 

This year we are spotlighting library media clerks and specialists throughout Granite School District by having them answer a series of questions about their reading lives and favorite books to recommend to students.  These “By the Book” spotlights are posted twice weekly on Granite Media, our school libraries web site, and we will be featuring selections from them here on the Granite EdTech blog. Some book titles or author names in the spotlights are linked to ebooks and digital audiobooks in Granite’s OverDrive Digital Library, which students and staff in Granite School District can check out to read or listen to from any computer or mobile device.