Hidden on the second floor of Spindt Hall sits a glorious paradise filled with knowledge and activities to get your creative juices flowing. What is this glorious paradise I speak of, you may ask? Well, it’s the one and only: Bakersfield High School library.
Our school library contains thousands of books from many genres written by all kinds of people, and many fun activities, which ultimately means that much knowledge and power can be gained by using these resources to their full potential. The creator of this paradise? Mrs. Garza.
Mrs. Garza attended BHS as a high school student. While attending BHS, Mrs. Garza participated in school and literacy-influenced activities such as Journalism and Yearbook. Mrs. Garza states that her favorite thing about BHS is “the tradition and the pride.” She is a firm believer in our school saying: “Once a Driller, always a Driller.”
After completing high school, Mrs. Garza attended many colleges, working very hard to achieve her dreams. She received her Undergraduate degree at CSUB, along with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Religious Studies. After CSUB, Mrs. Garza headed over to the extension campus of the University of Phoenix where she earned a Masters degree in Education and single-subject teaching credential in English. After this, she worked as an English teacher at schools such as Shafter, Highland, and BHS. But Mrs. Garza still had more dreams to fulfill, so after the University of Phoenix, she attended Fresno Pacific University where she earned her Librarian Credential.
Many people believe that anyone can simply become a librarian. This, however, is a mistake; it takes many years of education and special credentials (along with a lot of time and money) in order to qualify for a librarian position.
This year is Mrs. Garza’s 17th year of teaching (because she’s actually a teacher librarian), but only her fourth year of being a school librarian. She states that even though she misses being able to develop relationships with students in a classroom setting, she absolutely loves being the librarian here at BHS. Mrs. Garza’s favorite thing about being a librarian is sharing her passion for reading. She states: “Reading teaches empathy and kindness.” She believes that it is her job as an educator to pass along the wonders and importance of reading to the students of BHS. Speaking of the students of BHS: they are Mrs. Garza’s other favorite thing about being the BHS librarian. She gets to see every single student at BHS and it brings her much joy.
One thing Mrs. Garza wants the students of BHS to know is that she is extremely strict when it comes to the rules of the library, but is a very kind and caring person. A little fun fact about Mrs. Garza is her favorite book genre is Historical Fiction, and her least favorite is Manga.
Mrs. Garza is a very kind, caring, intelligent person and we are very fortunate to have her as our school librarian. We have a comfortable, easy-to-use library at BHS and it’s all because of our wonderful librarian, Mrs. Garza.
