By OLIVIA BERGMEIER
Salina Post
Artwork of famous children's books and seasonal literature cover Oakdale Elementary School's library this year — Amy Pihl, Oakdale's new librarian, put up the decorations for the incoming students.
The school's library sees children of all ages, and Pihl said her main goal this year was to connect with students and help them along their education journies.
"I'm going to see them grow for the next five years, so I'm going to get to know them," Pihl said. "I can go up to their kindergarten teacher and say, 'You remember how so and so was really tricky? Well, the work you did paid off because in four years, this is what he's doing now.'"
Pihl didn't begin her librarian career in education but at the Salina Public Library before taking a break to raise her children for the last seven years.
At Salina Public Library, Pihl worked with adults daily, with no plans to switch to elementary education.
"Before I had my own children, it was hard for me to envision working with kids," Pihl said. "My kids are in elementary school, so this sort of clicks."
Now, she enjoys seeing all elementary grades of children, impacting their lives with stories, literature education and digital literacy for the older students.
"One of my absolute favorite things, honestly, is just storytime on the rug," Pihl said. "I love helping with digital literacy, and helping especially with fifth graders who are about to go to middle school, to have digital citizenship."
The switch to elementary education was a shift for Pihl, especially being out of the workforce to spend more time with her young kids.
Read More: Salina Central Theatre to present, "Noises Off" Oct. 6-8
Now that her youngest enrolled in Kindergarten, she wanted to return to the workforce, and the years with her kids inspired her to pursue elementary education.
"This is a shift, but ultimately, it's my dream job," Pihl said. "Man, they sure smile, and they sure love you, and once you take the time to connect with them, it's totally amazing and worth it."
The new position faced challenges since Pihl would be the third person in the school's library in the last four years, and this sometimes made connecting with the older students in fourth or fifth grade difficult.
Even through the role's challenges, Pihl said she remained determined to connect with the older children and teach them as much as she can this year.
"I'm hoping by next year, the fourth graders and I can establish some of those relationships," Pihl said. "Make me love you, make me cry at your fifth-grade clapout — just make me invested and let's get invested in each other."