Margaret Whalen Stec

629 N. Grove Ave. Oak Park, IL. 60302

708-955-9110 : mwstec@sbcglobal.net
EDUCATION

Master of Library and Information Science with Youth Services Certificate:

Dominican University, 4.0 GPA
Anticipated completion of program: May 2016
Master of Arts in Teaching, Early Childhood: Concordia University, May 2006
Illinois Type 4 Age 0-Grade 3 Certification
Bachelor of Arts, English Literature: Dominican University, Cum Laude

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
La Grange Park Public Library La Grange Park, IL: Youth Services Assistant 2012-Present
Thomas Ford Memorial Library Western Springs, IL: Youth Services Assistant (part time) 2012-2013
Proficient in SirsiDynix Symphony System and Millennium Circulation System
Plan and conduct yearly programs:
Baby Storytimes: three 6 to 10 week sessions per year
Toddler Times: three 6 to 10 week sessions per year
Safe Sitter Babysitting Training, including child CPR: one 4 week session per year
Summer Reading K-3 program: one 6 week session per year
Toddler Dance Party: three times per year
Kids Club: two 10 week sessions per year
Outreach:
Special Needs Storytime at Forest Road School
Preschool Storytime at Barnsdale Preschool
Home Daycare Storytime in La Grange Park
Assist in collection management projects, status changes, new title processing, weeding titles
Create departmental displays
Resource guide for developmentally appropriate childrens literature
Contribute book reviews for library website
East Maine School District 63: First Grade Teacher 2007-2011
Curriculum
Implemented guided reading comprehension strategies and problem-solving techniques
Assessed students using Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System and AIMSweb progress
monitoring data to provide differentiated reading instruction
Unique Classroom Experience
Accommodated diverse student populations from over 12 different countries with varied English
language proficiency levels
Modeled metacognitive strategies to aid student monitoring of academic and behavioral progress
Supported students in multiple challenging life situations by collaborating with parents, social workers
and child services
Technology Proficiency
Microsoft Publisher, Prezi, Weebly, Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point, Audacity, ELMO visual
projector
Designed spreadsheets to record and analyze student progress in support of Response to Instruction
(RTI) Intervention System
Developed teacher web page and weekly newsletter to enhance parent communication
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SKILLS
Participant in Global Learning Through Childrens Literature Symposium 2012
Completed Masters Level courses in childrens literature 2012-2016
Attended ILA Conference 2013
NIU Childrens Literature Conference 2014, 2016
Certified in CPR/AED
Strong interpersonal skills
Patron reviews listed below

This edition of Library Look brings us the La Grange Park Public Librarys Margaret Whalen Stec.
She works in the Childrens Department.
Q. How long have you been with the library?
A. I have worked in the childrens department for four years. I plan programs, process new books and recommend
developmentally appropriate titles for our young readers. This is my favorite part of the job: to connect readers to books that
develop a passion for reading!
Q. What is your favorite part of working at the library? Why?
A. The library is filled with two of my favorite things: books and children! I really enjoy connecting young readers to new
books and hearing about their reading choices. This is such an important time in their learning, and to develop a passion for
reading during the early stages of childhood is so very important to foster lifelong learning.
Q. What is something library patrons may not know about you?
A. Before coming to this wonderful library, I taught first grade for several years. My present position has been a great
opportunity to use my early childhood teaching experience in my story time/after school programs and my readers advisory
skills.
Q. What do you think is an underused feature of the library and why?
A. I love introducing patrons to the online resources available on our website. This is a fantastic selection that is easy to use
and free of charge! Novelist Plus is one of my favorites for read-alikes, and Gale Virtual Reference along with Biography in
Context are great for older students research projects.
Q. What is your favorite book and why?
A. This is an extremely difficult question to answer for a bibliophile. There are too many! My favorite classics are
Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Some of my favorite childrens books include:
Goodnight Moon, The Secret Garden and James and the Giant Peach. Adult reads? I love anything by Ann Patchett,
Anne Lamott and Madeleine LEngle.

Patron Reviews:
---------- Forwarded message ---------From: info@lplibrary.org <info@lplibrary.org>
Date: Tue, Jan 5, 2016 at 7:16 PM
Subject: New submission from Contact Us
To: info@lplibrary.org

Name
Katie J.
Email
k.....a@gmail.com
Phone
(XXX-XXX-XXXX)
How can we help you?
Feedback
Comment
I just wanted to thank you for providing such an excellent Baby Story Time. Miss Margaret is such an asset to
your children's department. I have been attending the Baby Story Time since the summer and am very
impressed with her. She is warm, engaging, and professional. Her agendas are easy to follow and thorough,
making it easy to continue what we have learned at home. She incorporates visual, kinesthetic, and auditory
learning and her repetition and flow between the activities is just perfect for the little ones. I am a reading
specialist and it is obvious that she incorporates best practices in her teaching and that she is excellent at
developing early literacy skills. I have attended several other baby story sessions in the area and hers is by far
superior. I have been looking forward to the new session beginning next week; thanks for letting my daughter
and me be part of it.

yelp*review:
La Grange Park Public Library Dist.
Dana O.
La Grange, IL
1/18/2014
I am not one to take the time to write reviews, but my (very early) New Years resolution is to sing the praises of
things I really love. And the LGP library is one of them! I have two small kids and we love, love, love the children's
section of this library. Miss Margaret is a dream librarian; she is so engaged and nice with the kids, she has a
brilliant memory for remembering names, and it's obvious she loves what she does. She is, hands-down, the best
children's librarian in the greater La Grange area. The story times are fantastic, and the extra programming they do
for kids is so well-organized and memorable. The rest of the library is nice, too. Great natural lighting, and it's just a
clean place. Plus, KEY, is that everyone that works there is nice and helpful. I haven't found one person yet who's
just sloughing around waiting for 5 p.m. They are all really present and wonderful. I'm so glad we live so close to this
library. It is a GEM and we'll be coming here regularly for many years to come.