Welcome to Can't Shelve This: your new school library podcast.

Co-hosts Janette Derucki (RAILS Data Analyst) and Leah Gregory (IHLS School Library Membership Coordinator) introduce themselves and discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly happening at Illinois school libraries.

Relevant Links:

Vocational Awe and Librarianship by Fobazi Ettarh

Intro/outro music produced by Samuel Mohart.

Can't Shelve This is a Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS) product in collaboration with Illinois Heartland Library System (IHLS).

Help us help you…share the important work that you’re doing in school libraries.

Janette and Leah chat with school librarians Gail Meyer (Thornton Fractional High School) and Deb Will (Zion-Benton Township High School) about the simplest and most impactful ways that anyone can advocate for school libraries.

Relevant Links:

AISLE Letter Writing Campaign/Legislation Letter Template

AISLE By The Numbers Canva Template

SLATE Project

Music produced by Samuel Mohart.

Can't Shelve This is a Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS) production in collaboration with Illinois Heartland Library System (IHLS).

Janette and Leah chat with district librarian Nichole Folkman (Hartsburg-Emden CUSD #21) about the best ways to get your tots, tweens, and teens excited about visiting the school library. Plus, we read and discuss your submitted programming stories!

Relevant Links:

Follow Nichole on Instagram

AISLE Readers' Choice Book Awards

School librarian and administrator relationships can be tricky to navigate.

Janette and Leah are joined by school librarian Beth Kovacic and principal Akemi Sessler (Dryden Elementary School) and discuss how you can foster that positive relationship to improve student, teacher, and community success.

Relevant Links:

Shannon Miller

John Hattie

Janette and Leah sit down with the internet's favorite librarian, Mychal Threets! Together, they talk about how even the smallest moments of library joy help us persist—both in librarianship and in life. Plus, we read and react to your library joy stories!

Books We Discussed:

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

Totally and Completely Fine by Elissa Sussman

The Troubleshooter Series by Suzanne Brockmann

Emily Giffin

That Librarian by Amanda Jones

Ryan T. Higgins

The Port Chicago 50 by Steve Sheinkin

We talk about certified school librarianship all the time in Library Land, but what does that even mean?

Janette and Leah break it down for you in this episode with Lauren Ochs (School Library Licensure Coordinator at University of Illinois) and Hannah Fiedler (recently-certified school librarian).

Relevant Links:

Illinois School Library Workers Symposium (September 17, 2025)

Association of Illinois School Library Educators (AISLE) Scholarships

ILA Mentorship Program

AISLE - Become a School Librarian

American Association of School Librarians (AASL)

Every student deserves to be seen in their school library.

Janette and Leah are joined by "A" (local school librarian) and Jessica Silva (RAILS Member Engagement Specialist) to discuss how to create welcoming and inclusive school libraries. Together, they share strategies for supporting EDIA in the changing educational landscape.

Relevant Links:

Cooperative Center for Children’s Books Statistics

Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors by Rudine Sims Bishop

Vocational Awe and Librarianship by Fobazi Ettarh

The Myth of the Neutral Professional by Robert Jensen

Executive Orders:

• Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling
• Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government
• Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States and Communities
• Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy

EndDEI website

GLSEN Rainbow Library

Libraries and the Patriot Act

Public Act 103-0100

Inclusive Curriculum Implementation Guidance

Project Lit

On Intersectionality by Kimberle Crenshaw

Kelsey Bogan’s “Don’t Shush Me” Blog

Instead of feeling sad, let's get mad.

In the spirit of a mid-year Festivus, co-hosts Janette and Leah address the current library landscape and read lisener-submitted rants.

Relevant Links:

Agencies of Impact Report

IMLS Advocacy Pulse Page

Illinois State Board of Education ELA Standards

ISAIL Standards

AASL Standards

Books Mentioned:

Yellowface by R.F. Kuanga

All Fours by Miranda July

John Green

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier