Community Connection
How One Librarian Turned PTA Partnership into a Thriving, Up-to-Date Library Collection
When Mary Paige Boyce stepped out of retirement to become a certified school librarian at Richland School District Two’s Center for Knowledge and Center for Knowledge North in Columbia, South Carolina, she brought a unique blend of experience and fresh perspective.
With decades of work as a teaching and learning director and a newly earned Master’s in Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina, Boyce, who affectionately calls herself the “Retired Rookie Librarian," returned with a mission: to revitalize her libraries’ collections and spark a love of reading in her students.
What she encountered, however, was a familiar challenge.
Rebuilding from the Ground Up
When Boyce began her position, the schools were much smaller and could not support a certified librarian. This contributed to an outdated collection.
“When I started, the average age of one of our collections was around 1996...late nineties for sure,” Boyce explains.
“Most of the nonfiction was over 20 years old. We basically needed to replenish every Dewey section. We still had books listing Pluto as a planet.”
An outdated collection doesn’t just limit student engagement; it creates real gaps in learning.
Boyce knew that to meet curriculum standards and support students effectively, a full-scale refresh was necessary.
But rebuilding a collection takes more than vision. It takes funding.
A Strategic Partnership with PTA
Rather than seeing funding as a barrier, Boyce saw an opportunity for partnership. With the support of a wonderful and supportive administration, she began building momentum for change. She began by recruiting parent volunteers, many of whom were already active in the PTA, to help in the library. Together, they tackled the first big step: weeding outdated materials. This hands-on involvement did more than improve the collection; it gave PTA members a direct view into the needs of the library.
“They could see firsthand how much of the collection was no longer relevant,” Boyce says.
“That made a huge difference in building understanding and support."
From there, Boyce made a strategic case.
She started small, introducing just five Junior Library Guild (JLG) categories per school, such as Biographies and STEAM, delivering 5–6 books each month in the key areas needing rebuilding. This saved her significant time in curation. By focusing on how easy JLG made high-quality curation in her libraries, she demonstrated how JLG could immediately strengthen the collection while aligning with curriculum goals.
The result? Buy-in.
With strong support from her school administration, both Boyce’s libraries are now funded by their PTA through a Gold Membership with Junior Library Guild, bringing in an average of 27 newly published books each month across the two schools.
The Power of Curated Selection
For Boyce, one of the greatest values of JLG isn’t just the quantity of new books, it’s the expert curation.
“I worry that the books I choose will lean heavily toward my preference,” she shares.
“And I do have kids that like books that are different from the ones that I might choose. ”
JLG helps fill those gaps.
“With Junior Library Guild, I can count on them to send me books that I might not have otherwise chosen or even known about. JLG is selecting books based on their quality and their reviews."
This curated approach has expanded reading horizons for both Boyce and her students. Through JLG, they’ve discovered authors like Erin Soderberg Downing, whose titles Controlled Burn, The Great Peach Experiment series, and Just Keep Walking have become student favorites.
Her impact even extended beyond the page: students recently welcomed Downing for an author visit. The fact that her district chose Controlled Burn to be part of their Battle of the Books competition cemented the fact that JLG was sending her libraries the most exciting and relevant titles available.
Creating Excitement Around Reading
Beyond collection development and curriculum alignment, Boyce emphasizes something equally important: joy.
“Some days you're bogged down, and you just need a boost,” she says.
“New books are that huge boost.”
That excitement is tangible the moment a JLG box arrives.
“When JLG books come in the door and I see that box, I get excited, my kids get excited, and we open it right then—and it's wonderful!”
Outside of her work in the library, Mary Paige shares her passion for books and librarianship through her social platform, @rookieretiredlibrarian on TikTok, where she posts book reviews, shares library practice ideas, and brings an entertaining, authentic voice to the profession.
At Junior Library Guild, we’re incredibly grateful for librarians like Mary Paige Boyce.
Her dedication to students, her creativity in building community partnerships, and her commitment to keeping collections fresh and relevant allow students to gain access to the kind of books that spark curiosity, connection, and a lifelong love of reading.
