By Victor Garcia
New to Pueblo Magnet High School, librarian Ms. Marsha Jean Burrola issued library cards to Pueblo students on March 17, 2016.
Classes were invited to the library for four periods throughout the day, for a total of 10 classes. Burrola said that she had already been teaching research material to 12th graders, but wanted them to have access to more databases that Pima County public libraries can provide. By entering their card number and pin number, students gained an opportunity to have access to much more information.
According to Burrola, about 170 Pueblo students received these cards, and about 70 thus far have signed up for the virtual library.
”I’d like for students to be aware of the resources available to them,” Burrola added.
She added that she was able to work with Mexican-American Studies Director Dr. Maria Figueroa and Pima Community Public Library (PCPL) in order to make the library card and virtual library a possibility at Pueblo. Normally, students under the age of 18 would need parent permission, but PCPL decided to give all students library cards in “real” time without parental permission. Students will be able to use these cards at any Pima County library as well as the internet.
Burrola stated that she wished that more students understood how being a part of this process could potentially help them with their academics. She also said that students should feel that they had to be a part of this program just because their teachers wanted them to have these opportunities.
“The opportunities to gain so much more information should be reward enough,” she said.
Burrola would love to offer our students more chances to sign up.
“I would love to continue this process [of getting more students signed up for this library card] in the fall,” Burrola said.