Ann Ohms (MS '08) joined the School on August 1 as K-12 program coordinator. In this role, she advises students interested in pursuing licensure or endorsement as a K-12 library information specialist and supervises teacher-librarian candidates during their student teaching.
Ohms previously worked as a library/media specialist at Middletown Prairie Elementary School in Mahomet, Illinois. She received her bachelor's degree in elementary education and worked at an elementary school in Dallas City, Illinois, before coming to the University of Illinois for her master's degree. As a student, she worked at the Urbana Free Library and, on the side, created story times for Tolono Public Library and volunteered at The Center for Children's Books. She received the Alice Lohrer Award for Literature and Library Services for Youth from the iSchool in 2008 and a Lauretta McCusker Professional Development Grant from the Illinois School Library Media Association in 2016.
"I am honored to have the opportunity to guide future teacher-librarians within the School that so greatly influenced my professional path as a librarian, educator, and informational specialist," Ohms said.
"I look forward to mentoring and supporting future K-12 school library professionals. The face of school librarianship is continuously shifting and changing, and I am eager to support and equip future teacher-librarians with the tools, skills, and dispositions necessary to best meet the needs of today's student."
As K-12 program coordinator, she hopes to advocate for the school library profession, "increasing awareness of the important role teacher-librarians play in the holistic education of twenty-first century learners."