HERMISTON, Ore.-Longtime Hermiston Librarian Delia Fields is retiring at the end of the school year.
Fields taught in the Hermiston School District for 18 years, and has been the Secondary Librarian, serving Hermiston High and the district’s two middle schools since 2013.
Growing up in Hermiston, Fields says she had a “pretty good trajectory” planned for what she wanted to do in life.
“When I was young, I knew I wanted to go into journalism, then education,” said Fields. “I didn’t think I’d be fortunate enough to really have it happen, though. Now on the other side of 30 years it’s truly been a blessing.”
After graduating from Oregon State University, Fields worked as a Reporter and Associate Editor for a newspaper in Alaska, before graduating from the University of Alaska with her degree in education in 1995.
Teacher
Fields returned to Hermiston and taught 4th grade for a year at Sunset Elementary before she had the choice to go down to kindergarten or move up to middle school.
“I went the middle school route and never looked back,” said Fields, who taught seventh and eighth graders at Armand Larive from 1996 until 2013. “I just loved it, I taught humanities, language arts and social studies for 18 years.”
Eventually Fields knew the “time had just come” to leave the classroom, so she went back to school at Portland State University.
Sticking to her trajectory, Fields knew the ultimate outcome would be a library masters, however, the getting there wouldn’t be without challenges, including sleeping in her car near the PSU campus one or two weekends a month for two years as a cost-cutting measure.
Fields earned her Master of Science: Library and Information Science Degree, becoming a certified K-12 Librarian in 2013.
“I’m so glad I did it, it prepared me for all grade levels,” said Fields. “I’ve loved it ever since; young adult books are where my heart is.”
Librarian
As the Secondary Librarian for the Hermiston School District, Fields is seldom in one building all day. On Mondays and Wednesdays, she’s at the high school, while on Tuesdays she’s at Armand Larive, Wednesdays are spent at Sandstone, and Fridays she usually goes wherever she’s needed.
“As much as you try to describe what school librarians do, unless you can show people it’s like a secret language,” said Fields. “Every day is a treasure chest of fun, or weird surprises.”
Far beyond checking out books, the duties of a librarian include teacher support, creating or assisting with lessons, managing technology, logging textbooks and supporting administration with information or resources.
Fields has also assisted in finding adopted children through old yearbook photos, identifying class rings and conducting patron interviews.
Perhaps the one constant in a modern school library is still the students, though, and they have given Fields the opportunity to continue teaching and learning.
“If you’re interested and you show that, then there’s at least some kids who are too, and you can try new things,” said Fields, of helping run the chess club at the middle and high school levels for over twenty years.
For Fields it’s all about getting kids connected, with a chess set, the right book or anything else they may need.
“If you’re willing to be supportive and helpful, you don’t have to be great,” said Fields of her own middling chess skills.
Whether in the classroom or the library, Fields has sought to create an encouraging environment where every student can learn and understand that education extends beyond school.
“If I can encourage those learning skills now, that’s all the better,” said Fields.
An evolving library
Every space evolves through time and circumstances, according to Fields, whose career in education has spanned the inception of the internet to the introduction of Artificial Intelligence and everything in between.
“We can’t underscore enough that students hold more information than ever before in the palm of their hands,” said Fields.
Despite all the changes and the heavy presence of technology in schools and libraries, Fields does not see it as a cause for alarm, rather as an opportunity for licensed librarians and other teachers to do what they do best.
“I’m the original Google search engine,” said Fields. “We need to help kids carefully and effectively navigate new technologies and become good digital citizens.”
For Fields, connecting with students through the sharing of information is where learning happens, especially when a student finds a topic or resource they relate to and brings it to her.
“It’s productive because they found that book, that author, that genre and brought it to you,” Fields said. “Then you explore further together, it’s always a teachable moment when there’s sharing.”
The Hermiston High School library will continue to undergo changes in the future, including weeding out 32 shelves worth of space for testing, classrooms, puzzles, crafting and computers, according to Fields, and new furniture to make the room more vibrant is also on the way.
A storybook career
Throughout her career Fields has been an active member of Region 6 of the Oregon Association of School Libraries and has served on several committees, including one to help create the statewide standards used for school libraries.
Fields is a two-time Teacher of the Year and received a GENY Award during her career, which she considers the most meaningful, after being nominated for the honor by a former student.
Fields is still stopped by former students who recount with a smile or a laugh, lessons they remember from her classroom or library.
“My biggest joy is running into a former student and having them say, ‘I remember when you taught me this or that,’” said Fields. “Recently a former student, who is now a teacher, was in town and told me how one of their students pointed out a mistake on the board and they used it to teach a proofreading lesson that I taught them in middle school.”
Life lessons from the library
Fields is quick to credit her current assistants, former mentors, especially the previous Secondary Librarian Jan Nichols, as well as former and current students and colleagues for her success.
“Every step of the way during my time with the Hermiston School District, there have been mentors who became cherished friends – both long retired and active co-workers – who are also responsible for helping in any successes I’ve been fortunate to have,” said Fields.
Just like when she knew it was time to leave the classroom for the library, Fields knows it’s time to call it a career, but that doesn’t mean she’s slowing down.
Her youngest daughter heads off to college in the fall, and Fields plans to catch up on a rather long reading list and finally take the time to sit down and do some writing of her own in retirement.
“There’s reason to smile quite a bit when reflecting on my career, the students, my colleagues and all the things we got to do,” said Fields. “There were so many more highlights than lowlights.”
