Fresno Unified School District
A Career Pivot with Purpose: Clare McGarvin on the Power of School Libraries
When Clare McGarvin decided to pivot from being a math teacher to school librarian, some friends and family thought she was headed down an unreliable career path.
Wouldn’t the advance of technology and the explosion of online books and information make libraries obsolete? But McGarvin, now the manager of Library Services for Fresno Unified, has found that school librarians are as essential as ever.
The new era of school librarians – known as teacher librarians – have expanded roles to align with the growth of online resources and technology. They not only help students with books on the shelves, their goal is also to assist students develop research skills and navigate the complex world of information to become responsible users of knowledge.
They are also often the techy expert on campus, providing support to the entire staff.
“Over the years, it’s become very apparent to me that the human aspect of library work is worth more than any technological advancement. While technological advancements continue to affect our work, we continue to adapt and learn these new tools so our students will leave Fresno Unified with the skills required for today’s world,” McGarvin said.
McGarvin grew up in Fowler, walking to the downtown library as a child, a small storefront on the main street.
“I was a regular there and enjoyed being able to search for something new and interesting on their shelves. It was such a small branch, but I enjoyed the more intimate space, as compared to the trips to Fresno’s downtown branch, which was huge to me as a kid,” McGarvin said.
After earning her bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State and her teaching credential from Fresno State, McGarvin began working for Fresno Unified in the fall of 2001 and taught math for 12 years at Sequoia Middle School and then Kings Canyon Middle School. She was a teacher librarian at Kings Canyon, Computech Middle School and McLane High School before taking the Library Services manager job in 2023.
McGarvin considers libraries the heart of the campus, where students can find themselves reflected in authors and stories. With students spending hours daily on screens, reading books is not often their first choice. School librarians work hard to find what genre of literature excites a student and how to engage students in reading books, either physical or online.
“Our school libraries are where students come to find out about their interests and learn about worlds beyond what they see in their day-to-day lives,” McGarvin said. “It's important that we keep libraries robust in content and resources; that way, kids grow up surrounded with an abundance of knowledge at their fingertips which helps them throughout the rest of their lives.”
School libraries also contribute to Fresno Unified’s early literacy and literacy intervention goals, providing preschool through sixth grade students with packs of books to support reading at home. On a daily basis library staff help connect students with books at their level and to encourage reading growth, and read to the younger students to encourage a love for books.
Fresno Unified has a top-notch library staff, McGarvin said.
“They make working in this position a dream job. My library team is such an amazing group of individuals,” McGarvin said.
McGarvin sees libraries as foundational to schools and communities.
“It’s easy to forget that strong libraries are a result of a strong democratic society; freedom to have access to knowledge and information is critical and I’m proud to be a small part of the larger library world by providing the needed support to school libraries throughout Fresno Unified,” McGarvin said.