Scott Summers, assistant director of the NC State College of Education’s Media and Education Technology Resource Center (METRC), has been named a recipient of the Library Journal’s 2024 Movers & Shakers award.
As a recipient of a Movers & Shakers Award, Summers is one of 50 individuals profiled in the May 2024 issue of Library Journal who were selected for their advocacy, community building, innovation and ways of moving library values forward.
“This really is a career-defining moment for me, and I am so honored to be recognized alongside so many amazing librarians, advocates and educators. Many of the honorees are my own personal library heroes whose work I have admired for years, so to see myself and my work included is still surreal,” Summers said.
A former K-12 English teacher and school librarian, Summers has always worked to help educators bring library and technology resources into their lessons. When working at the high school level, he and a colleague created a professional development series known as the “Power Half-Hour,” where they would conduct lessons on technology, talk about changes and news within the district, and help teachers bring actionable strategies and ideas into their classrooms by working in community.
When he had the opportunity to join the College of Education as the assistant director of METRC, he knew he could amplify this impact.
“When I saw the METRC role become available, I thought to myself, ‘That sounds like Power Half-Hour every day! How awesome would that be?’” he said. “It is exciting to see the impact of the work we do in METRC translates to the field, and the added bonus is that some of the students I taught at the high school ended up as pre-service teachers here at NC State, so seeing their growth and determination to become teachers was a full circle moment for me.”
Summers likes to think of his role as a librarian as being a built-in collaborative partner for pre-service educators in the College of Education, helping future teachers navigate challenges and providing leadership and guidance related to technology, literacy and innovative practices.
“METRC has worked to help our students understand how to meaningfully integrate instructional technology into their teaching practice. We are preparing teachers who are confident and knowledgeable about the pedagogical frameworks of technology, and we are excited to see how they advocate for themselves and their students,” he said.
Since joining the College of Education, Summers has also created a Professional Growth Unit (PGU) called Students Protecting Intellectual Freedom for Youth, or Get SPIFFY. The PGU highlights case law, policies, professional organization guidelines and ethics, and resources related to intellectual freedom.
“My goal is to help the future teachers I work with not only learn the importance of the right to read, but also how to advocate for themselves and others,” Summers said.
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