Jen Zimny
@jenthelibrarian.bsky.social
High school teacher librarian 📚 CSLA President-Elect 2025 📖 Escape room fanatic 🚪Coffee dependent ☕ Kick ass mom of two girls 👭🏼 She/Her 👩 Views are my own
Check out my website for a treasure trove of library goodies: https://ourlivelylibrary.weebly.com/
Check out my website for a treasure trove of library goodies: https://ourlivelylibrary.weebly.com/
8 rounds of this during the week. Only took 6 rounds of it to figure out the best way to run it. First, you start by saying, "This game is like Apples to Apples. This game is NOT Cards Against Humanity. So stay school appropriate." Lol.
February 6, 2026 at 9:53 PM
8 rounds of this during the week. Only took 6 rounds of it to figure out the best way to run it. First, you start by saying, "This game is like Apples to Apples. This game is NOT Cards Against Humanity. So stay school appropriate." Lol.
Back from conference and have a weekly substack back up!
open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
Weekly library recap 2/2 - 2/6
TLDR: Lots of new displays for February, return from CSLA, and some new exciting titles to think about adding to your collection!
open.substack.com
February 6, 2026 at 6:03 PM
Back from conference and have a weekly substack back up!
open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
Weekly substack is up!
Weekly library recap 1/19 - 1/23
TLDR: Weeding literature and classics, Book Buzzwords, and three books to look out for in collection development
open.substack.com
January 23, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Weekly substack is up!
Weekly substack is up! Enjoy my musings for the week!
open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
Weekly library recap 1/12 - 1/16
TLDR: AP Language Lit Circles, Weeding classics, and some dragon and romance books to add to your library shelves
open.substack.com
January 16, 2026 at 5:54 PM
Weekly substack is up! Enjoy my musings for the week!
open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
Looking forward to attending CSLA at the end of this month and presenting my session I've been working towards for almost THREE YEAR! Come see what we've done with transforming independent reading at my school!
January 14, 2026 at 9:40 PM
Looking forward to attending CSLA at the end of this month and presenting my session I've been working towards for almost THREE YEAR! Come see what we've done with transforming independent reading at my school!
Y'all. Putting puzzles on the back of the reflection sheets for my @breakoutedu.com games has been a GAME CHANGER. For my fast finishers, they now have something to do that keeps them seated at their table. Such a difference today!
November 14, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Y'all. Putting puzzles on the back of the reflection sheets for my @breakoutedu.com games has been a GAME CHANGER. For my fast finishers, they now have something to do that keeps them seated at their table. Such a difference today!
Finally a weekly substack! Took me long enough! Lol. #tlsky open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
Weekly Substack Update: October Edition
TLDR: BreakoutEDU adjustments, AI Image Spotting, new unique YA books, and more
open.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Finally a weekly substack! Took me long enough! Lol. #tlsky open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
On my way to AASL National Conference with a small detour into Seattle first, but we're on our way now!
October 16, 2025 at 12:53 AM
On my way to AASL National Conference with a small detour into Seattle first, but we're on our way now!
My weekly substack is up! This week we talk Noodletools and Halloween displays! jenzthelibrarian.substack.com/p/weekly-lib...
Weekly Library Recap 10/6 - 10/11
TLDR: Recap of past TWO weeks, Noodletools PD, Halloween fun, lots of new book releases
jenzthelibrarian.substack.com
October 10, 2025 at 9:12 PM
My weekly substack is up! This week we talk Noodletools and Halloween displays! jenzthelibrarian.substack.com/p/weekly-lib...
The best Chromebook organization I've ever had.
September 25, 2025 at 5:07 AM
The best Chromebook organization I've ever had.
Today I did this awesome "Curate a Shelf" activity, and it was quite the success! More about the activity in my substack this week!
September 23, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Today I did this awesome "Curate a Shelf" activity, and it was quite the success! More about the activity in my substack this week!
Weekly Substack is up!
open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
Weekly Library Recap 9/15 - 9/19
TLDR: Frustrations of pushing into classrooms, Classroom Screen, a horror and fantasy book to keep and eye out for
open.substack.com
September 19, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Weekly Substack is up!
open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
Register for this amazing professional development today! CSLA Annual Conference is my favorite PD of the year!
csla.net/events/confe...
csla.net/events/confe...
September 19, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Register for this amazing professional development today! CSLA Annual Conference is my favorite PD of the year!
csla.net/events/confe...
csla.net/events/confe...
No substack this week because I just ran out of time as I went down the rabbit hole on a couple of projects!
But here's one of the projects I was working on! Check out my teacher librarian booking template that syncs automatically with Google Calendar. :-) Have a great weekend!
But here's one of the projects I was working on! Check out my teacher librarian booking template that syncs automatically with Google Calendar. :-) Have a great weekend!
I created a Librarian booking template to integrate with Google Calendar (using an app script) that will help you book classes more easily! I include an instructional video. No need to pay for some calendar service anymore! Here's one for FREE! ourlivelylibrary.weebly.com/librarian-re...
September 5, 2025 at 8:18 PM
No substack this week because I just ran out of time as I went down the rabbit hole on a couple of projects!
But here's one of the projects I was working on! Check out my teacher librarian booking template that syncs automatically with Google Calendar. :-) Have a great weekend!
But here's one of the projects I was working on! Check out my teacher librarian booking template that syncs automatically with Google Calendar. :-) Have a great weekend!
I created a Librarian booking template to integrate with Google Calendar (using an app script) that will help you book classes more easily! I include an instructional video. No need to pay for some calendar service anymore! Here's one for FREE! ourlivelylibrary.weebly.com/librarian-re...
September 3, 2025 at 9:20 PM
I created a Librarian booking template to integrate with Google Calendar (using an app script) that will help you book classes more easily! I include an instructional video. No need to pay for some calendar service anymore! Here's one for FREE! ourlivelylibrary.weebly.com/librarian-re...
New substack for the week is up! Independent Reading sessions and lateral reading lessons! open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
Weekly Library Recap 8/25 - 8/29
TLDR: Independent reading with freshmen and sophomores, lateral reading lessons, new books coming this week and next!
open.substack.com
August 29, 2025 at 4:28 PM
New substack for the week is up! Independent Reading sessions and lateral reading lessons! open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
Today I am doing a Genre Spotlight on Fantasy books with our advanced sophomores, and I can't WAIT to talk about my favorite genre with them. We're going to cover themes commonly found in fantasy and a few subgenres of fantasy! #librarian #library #books #tlsky #skybrarian #skybrarians #librarians
August 25, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Today I am doing a Genre Spotlight on Fantasy books with our advanced sophomores, and I can't WAIT to talk about my favorite genre with them. We're going to cover themes commonly found in fantasy and a few subgenres of fantasy! #librarian #library #books #tlsky #skybrarian #skybrarians #librarians
Sometimes I forget that if I book talk "older" books that have been around for a bit, they will become popular again! Here's a perfect example!
August 18, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Sometimes I forget that if I book talk "older" books that have been around for a bit, they will become popular again! Here's a perfect example!
I'm back doing the substack for this school year! While I try to do these weekly, the next will come out two weeks from now because the beginning of the year is CRAZY! open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
Welcome back to the 25/26 school year!
TLDR: AI book talk assistance, Book Scout+, and using Genially to create a virtual booshelf
open.substack.com
August 13, 2025 at 4:13 PM
I'm back doing the substack for this school year! While I try to do these weekly, the next will come out two weeks from now because the beginning of the year is CRAZY! open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
New book trailer for my book talks! I've always wanted a longer book trailer for The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas! www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-3j...
The Cheerleaders
YouTube video by Jennifer Zimny
www.youtube.com
August 7, 2025 at 6:14 PM
New book trailer for my book talks! I've always wanted a longer book trailer for The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas! www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-3j...
Welcome back everyone! On my website I have a lot of resources, but in particular the librarian resources page has great stuff for the beginning of the year! ourlivelylibrary.weebly.com/librarian-re...
Librarian Resources
On this page, you will find resources I use behind the scenes at a teacher librarian with those pesky nitty-gritty little details we have to do in our job. I hope you find the resources helpful as...
ourlivelylibrary.weebly.com
August 6, 2025 at 3:43 AM
Welcome back everyone! On my website I have a lot of resources, but in particular the librarian resources page has great stuff for the beginning of the year! ourlivelylibrary.weebly.com/librarian-re...
I forgot to send out my weekly substack on Friday, so here's a Monday treat for everyone! The last one of the year! But it's packed with some goodies. . . .
open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
Library Weekly recap 5/12 - 5/16 - Last recap of the year!
TLDR: EOY Book Recs with Padlet, R&J AI Images, Automating image insertion from Forms to Slides, and LAST SUBSTACK FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR!
open.substack.com
May 19, 2025 at 4:07 PM
I forgot to send out my weekly substack on Friday, so here's a Monday treat for everyone! The last one of the year! But it's packed with some goodies. . . .
open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
Only one more weekly Substack until the end of the year! SO CLOSE!
Library Weekly recap: 5/5 - 5/9
TLDR: AI Image Lesson, creating instructional videos using my own voice in an AI voiceover, a big release read that disappointed
open.substack.com
May 9, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Only one more weekly Substack until the end of the year! SO CLOSE!
Weekly substack is back! jenzthelibrarian.substack.com/p/weekly-rec...
Weekly recap 4/22 - 4/25
TLDR: CDE Library Survey, 6 word book talks, and a couple of romance books --- one a miss, one perhaps a hit?
jenzthelibrarian.substack.com
April 25, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Weekly substack is back! jenzthelibrarian.substack.com/p/weekly-rec...
And with that I'm OUTTA HERE! Spring break here I come! No new substack this next week! I'll be back in 2 weeks! open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...
Weekly recap 4/7 - 4/11
TLDR: Media Literacy lessons, Six Word Book Talks, and being assaulted by the teenagers for the third book in the Powerless series!
open.substack.com
April 11, 2025 at 9:31 PM
And with that I'm OUTTA HERE! Spring break here I come! No new substack this next week! I'll be back in 2 weeks! open.substack.com/pub/jenzthel...