Managing the Unprecedented: How School Librarians Rose to the Challenge of a Topsy-Turvy Year

Unprecedented. That word has been heard so many times in the past eighteen months that it has all but lost its meaning. But it's a fitting word for what has been experienced from March 2020 until now. In this article, three school librarians share their perspectives on how they handled such unprecedented times. They speak more often than not of their tireless efforts to support their students, but there is also a vulnerability present that illuminates the struggles they faced on a daily basis. These stories provide a raw and personal (and probably familiar and validating) account of the ups and downs of the pandemic. These stories can provide ideas for serving students' social-emotional needs in unprecedented times and beyond. These stories are proof of what was already known: there is something for everyone at the school library because of school librarians!