A visitor to the Library Media Center at Clow Elementary School immediately can see that a hushed environment is not the goal.
In one corner is a bass drum. Beverly Frett, the center’s director, likes to pound the drum when she reads a book called “Thundercake” to 1st graders.
The drum simulates booming thunder as part of Patricia Polacco’s story about baking a cake as a storm approaches.
The sound reverberates through the Naperville school.
“The first time I did it–maybe 12, 13 years ago–the teachers weren’t too happy, so in apology I baked them the cake recipe in the book,” Frett said. “Now the teachers are forewarned.
“But I still make the cake for them. It’s delicious.”
Whether she’s pounding a bass drum, baking cakes, exploring the latest Internet technologies or finding ways to nurture a child’s love of reading, Frett has become a leader in her field and a visionary in Indian Prairie School District 204.
In March, Technology and Learning magazine chose the school’s Web site, which Frett developed in 1996, as School Site of the Month.
It cited the simple design of the home page (www.ipsd.org/Clow) and links to instructional areas for curriculum support.
In April, Frett was honored by the Illinois State Board of Education with an Award of Merit in the “Those Who Excel” recognition program.
“Bev has always shown leadership in the [library media center] field and especially in applied technology. She’s always been far ahead,” said Karen Hutt, the district’s coordinator of library media centers.
When Frett began at Clow in 1989, she envisioned the role that computers would play in research and communication.
“Early on, it seemed natural that technology would become a part of a school library program,” she said.
She attended a seminar about e-mail in 1994 and began to understand the possibilities of Web graphics.
By 1996, she was making plans for a school Web site, long before most schools considered the idea.
“We started with the philosophy that the Web site would be a communication tool for parents to use,” she said.
She collaborated with the then-principal, John Ask, to develop the content. By 1999, the Clow site contained 2,000 pages, graphics, music, student work, achievement scores and school news for parents.
Today, the site features curriculum information, student work for every grade level, a virtual school tour developed by the pupils and a section called “Back Pack” that links pupils to Internet sites they need for projects. The site has doubled in size since 1999, Frett estimated.
Wears many hats
The site is but one example of Frett’s role of supporting and cheering the learning activities at Clow:
– She pushed for the Library Media Center to be open before and after school, something rare at elementary schools.
– She reads professional journals to find articles that staff members might find useful.
– She helped design a computer classroom–the largest in any elementary school in the district, with 30 stations–when the school expanded several years ago.
– She advises an after-school computer club.
– She brings in authors for literary events and organizes reading incentive programs.
– And when she finds youngsters reading, she rewards them.
“If she catches you reading, she’ll give you a certificate to eat lunch outside in the courtyard,” said Allison Gulick, 11. “She knows a lot about my questions and she’s always very friendly.”
The 5th grader also likes the comfortable couches that Frett has added to the Media Center.
“She’s a master at motivating kids to read,” said Tricia McCarthy, the school’s reading improvement and gifted/enrichment instructor. “The kids love the [library media center] and checking out books.”
Teachers and parents praise Frett’s willingness to drop what she’s doing to help any child.
“I’ve never seen anyone who has so much patience. When a child comes up to her with a question, that child is the No. 1 priority at that moment,” said Mary Helen Garrity, president of the Clow PTA. “Her work waits while their questions are answered.”
It’s no problem to recruit volunteers to assist Frett with her duties, Garrity said.
“We staff the [library media center] with six parents a day, and they work three-hour shifts,” she said. “They’ll do anything to help in the [center]. You don’t see that with other schools.”
Frett’s work as a library volunteer inspired her career.
She was a 5th-grade teacher in New Jersey for nine years before moving to Naperville with her husband, Mike, and twins, Karen and Christine. After the move, she decided to stay home with her daughters, then 11/2.
While volunteering at Brookdale Elementary School, her daughters’ school, Frett realized the library media center was where she wanted to be.
She liked the one-on-one interaction with the pupils.
“You teach them how to find a book or help them to increase their knowledge in a subject they’re interested in,” she said. “It’s always gratifying.”
She also likes working with all the pupils instead of one class. Another plus is seeing them progress from kindergarten through 5th grade, she said.
Frett completed her certification–called a media specialist endorsement–at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb in 1990.
She enjoys visits from former pupils, who still recall experiences that inspired their love of books.
“I took some kids to Anderson’s Bookshop–`Harry Potter’ had just come out,” Frett said. “These kids came back from high school to visit me one day and they said, `Remember when we met [`Harry Potter’ series author] J.K. Rowling?'”
Believes in service
Frett also coordinated a service project every month. She started the program because “it encourages initiative and develops community awareness among the children,” she said.
Pupils are encouraged to bring in canned and packaged food and used books, for example. The food was given to a local pantry and the books to low-income schools for their library media centers.
“The [library media center] lends itself well for those projects since it’s centrally located,” Frett said.
This fall, the PTA will take over the service projects.
With so many balls to juggle during the school year, Frett acknowledged working many days in summer to handle the details that accompany inventorying books and technology equipment, plus processing new textbooks.
That doesn’t leave much time for recreational reading, she said, what with pursuing a master’s degree and golf, another passion. She expects to receive her degree in library and information science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2004.
“My life is my job,” Frett said. “I live it. I eat it. I sleep it. I dream it.”
Beverly Frett
Position: Library Media Center director, Clow Elementary School, Naperville.
Years in field: 13.
Education: Bachelor’s degree from Limestone College, Gaffney, S.C.
Motivation: “The children make my job worthwhile. When you’ve helped them find a book they want, or a 1st grader wants to read to you, it’s so rewarding. And we’re never too busy to stop and help a child.”
Favorite childhood book: “The Sailor Dog,” by Margaret Wise Brown, which her parents read to her.
Favorite quote: “I find the great thing in this world is it’s not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving.”–Oliver Wendell Holmes. (A copy of it hangs on her office wall.)
Next challenge: Completing her master’s degree in library and information science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This requires online classwork plus one weekend per semester on campus.
Favorite places in Naperville: Browsing in Anderson’s Bookshop and walking on the Riverwalk.
