St. Joseph librarian receives national award

By Kyle Schmidt

A librarian at Robidoux Middle School received national recognition for going above and beyond in her career.

Melissa Corey was one of 10 honorees to win the 2024 I Love My Librarian Award. The award is presented through the American Library Association.

Corey said she never envisioned winning an award like this when she first started this career.

“It’s different every single day, there’s a lot of movement, a lot of action. You don’t really think about the bigger picture all too often,” Corey said. “It’s great that there are awards like this to recognize librarians for the important work they do.”

Not only did she earn a $5,000 cash prize, she was invited to Baltimore, Maryland, for the LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience Conference to learn and meet the other nominees, including two other school librarians.

”It is such a warm feeling to be around librarians in general but especially librarians you know they have such caring hearts,” Corey said. “That was the best part of this whole process, is getting to meet them in person”

So what makes Corey a special librarian? Marta Sansone, a teacher at Robidoux, had a lot to say about her friend and co-worker.

”Melissa makes our library a place that all children, all students would want to come to. It’s our happy place in the building,” Sansone said. “It’s just something there for every student in our building in our library.”

When Sansone was asked what trait Corey has that all people should strive for, she said, “Melissa has the kindest heart. She includes everyone in that love.”

One of the many special things Corey has done with the school is help provide a free book fair for students. Kids are able to go and grab up to three books to bring home.

The effort Corey puts in every day to provide a space for her students and school allows her to create a special bond.

”Robidoux is like a second family,” Corey said. “Our staff is super supportive and we have staff members that go above and beyond to serve students every single day and make sure they have what they need to learn.”

In 2023, Corey was a finalist in the “Librarian of the year” award. Now winning this award, she reflected on her coworkers and their contributions during the nomination process.

”I have just really supportive coworkers,” Corey said. “They see the library from a teacher perspective. They really pinpointed things that I do that makes a difference to them and students.

”Their support is so valuable to me. They’re amazing individuals,” she continued.

The school community expressed their appreciation for their librarian with a celebration. They called it “We Love our Librarian Day.”

The day consisted of cupcakes and brownies while Corey handed out books to kids.

”Melissa’s on the cutting edge of technology, professional development. She’s a lifelong learner,” Sansone said. “She never stops going to professional development to bring things to the north side and to Robidoux middle school for students.”

Corey was also selected as one of News-Press NOW’s “20 Who Count” in 2021.

To learn more about why Corey was selected for the I Love My Library Award, visit https://ilovelibraries.org/love-my-librarian/honorees/.