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Elizabeth is my 14 year old niece in her first year of high school. She enjoys reading for entertainment, mostly real in-hand novels in the teen romance genre, but also short reads on social media such as on tik tok. She usually does not enjoy reading for school because she finds the literature chosen to be out of date and un-relatable since many of her teachers like to stick with familiar "classic" literature.

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Elizabeth stated, "I feel like books you read in school are not meant to be relatable but are just meant to be educational." I thought this was a profound statement and one that really describes what many educators who have been in the profession for a long time believe. We often tend to lean on the classic stories that we enjoyed as children instead of focusing on what relates to the children in front of us that will achieve the same educational result. According to adlit.org, "Understanding what your middle or high school students are interested in reading or reading about gives you insight into their interests as a learner and their lives outside of school." The lives outside of school is the most challenging to achieve without conversation. It will be important for me as a media specialist to take time to understand what students are interested in to guide my collection.

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Elizabeth enjoys books mostly in the genre of young romance. She says for her shorter reads on social media she enjoys things that are "dramatic", such as stories about people who have gone missing.

Some of her favorites include titles by Colleen Hoover

Regretting You

Heart Bones

Reminders of Him

It Ends With Us

These stories show the themes of young love as well as relationships which are themes highlighted in the articles of adlit.org. We see a common author with these examples which is another place to start as a media specialist.

Elizabeth also enjoys reading articles about volleyball. Some are recommended to her by her coaches and others she finds on her own. The articles are usually written by volleyball players who share their experiences and strategies for improvement.

These genres are also related to the developmental stages of adolescence that we have learned about. Teens value belonging, developing their individual identities, and following their interests. Elizabeth proved this to me over the course of our interview with the common theme of relatable stories and characters.

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As a library media specialist, it will be essential for me to know my students and what is currently going on in society around them. It is okay to have available texts that I may want to share with them but it is through their interests and needs that my collection should be driven.

Students need resources for research and access to literature they may not yet know they are interested in. However, we always should begin with what students do know and have interest in because that is what will lead them to come back for more.

According to adlit.org, "Author Tananarive Due writes, “Diversity’ should just be called ‘reality.’ Your books, your TV shows, your movies, your articles, your curricula, need to reflect reality.” This is a wonderful description of diversity. The real world includes all people and cultures that collide every day. As educators, we need to allow people and cultures to co-exist as they do in the real world by intentionally choosing stories, characters, and authors for our collections. Students should see themselves through the experiences of others.