In the Learning Enrichment Center, St. Thomas High School’s librarian and LEC administrator, Haley Chance, is dedicated to creating a safe, quiet place on campus where students and faculty alike can foster a love of reading.

“What I love the most about my job is selecting books, e-books, and audiobooks for everyone to enjoy,” Chance said. “I get to remove the barrier between a person and the story that they’re looking for.”

Chance holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from Lamar University and a Master’s of Library & Information Science from Louisiana State University. In 2022, after working as a librarian and literacy specialist at YES Prep schools and Second Baptist, Chance began her work at St. Thomas.

Her love of reading—and libraries—began in her early childhood.

“My dad always took me to the public library,” she said. “They had these cylindrical cocoons that you could crawl into and read in. I grew up in a really big family, so being able to go to the library and be in my own space was really precious to me.”

At the library, Chance found that the stories she read, with her favorites being the Goosebumps series and books by Roald Dahl, took her on adventures far beyond the walls of her cocoon.

“I loved stories,” she said. “They could help me connect to people I might not normally in real life. People always say, ‘books help you travel the world without leaving your room,’ and that was really true for me.”

In the St. Thomas library, Chance’s role extends beyond her love of reading and librarianship. She is also the school’s archivist, cataloging documents and relics that date back to the school’s origins in 1900. One of her favorite pieces of the school’s history is an old clothbound binder that holds years of handwritten report cards from St. Thomas’ earliest classes.

“The really old stuff is so interesting,” she said. “We grow and evolve as humans, of course, so seeing things like old haircuts and names, is fascinating—to imagine what life as a high school student would have been like back then.”

Another key part of Chance’s role at the school often utilizes the archives. She is the resident go-to researcher, whether that be in referencing the school’s history or perusing through apartment listings for a student’s personal finance project.

Recently, Chance assisted the St. Thomas theater department in a search for an old newspaper article to inspire the props for the upcoming fall play, Agatha Christie’s Death Becomes Her. Chance scanned the Israel National Archive for article examples and found a piece written in the Palestine Post in 1938 that will serve as the prop’s inspiration.

“Helping people find what they’re looking for is one of my favorite parts of the job,” she said. “When someone is on the hunt for information, we often bring in others to help, and in the end, everyone learns something new.”

Chance also shares her researching tips and tricks to students, visiting their classrooms throughout the research process to lend a hand in the students’ search for information.

“It’s becoming increasingly difficult in this day and age to find information you need and make sure it’s reliable,” she said. “I teach them how to effectively apply filters and find exactly what they need.”

When reflecting on her own high school experience, Chance remembers her time in the library fondly and hopes that students will make intentional time to sit down, relax, and open a book more often.

“Reading builds empathy,” she said. “You learn more about yourself, and others, and sometimes, when you finish a book, it changes the way you live from then on out.”

If you’re searching for book recommendations for your student, you can contact Haley Chance at haley.chance@sths.org, or consult the list she has curated below:

For boys who want real stories about real people:

Trevor Noah: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

Unbroken (The Young Adult Adaptation) by Laura Hillenbrand

For boys who want to be swept up in a page turner:

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Promise Boys by Nick Brooks

And other popular authors among St. Thomas students are Brandon Sanderson, Jim Butcher, and Robert Jordan.

 

Article by Sarah Jane Lasley