Jewell Anderson, our very own librarian, has been a part of the Savannah Country Day school faculty since the beginning of the 2012 school year. During her time at SCDS she has learned quite a bit about “modern youth.” Ms. Anderson chose to work at Country Day because she had been living in Savannah for quite some time before, and it was a wonderful opportunity, since she had heard about Country Day’s reputation for academic excellence. 

This school year, along with a new building, the SCDS community was blessed with a new library. Ms. Anderson assisted with choosing the finishing fabrics and shelves for the fabulous new library. In the near future, a brand new catalog will be debuting, and will be “revolutionary for students to interact with the library material.”

Throughout her years as a librarian, Ms. Anderson has faced many challenges. Her current biggest challenge is being the sole librarian for two divisions (Middle School and Upper School). Previously, this position was occupied by the COVID-19 pandemic. She had to distance her librarianship as this was all new territory for every faculty member. Her main struggle was to bring together resources that everyone could access remotely with as much ease as possible. The first year of quarantine, she spent a lot of time driving yearbooks around to seniors, and delivering to them at home. She still managed to do good work with the rest of the faculty to help students succeed in this time of struggle. 

When interviewing Ms. Anderson, I was very curious as to why she became a librarian. What was her calling? Ms. Anderson was a lover of reading and books, and as she put it, “always a maniac reader.” Originally, being a Middle School English teacher was the plan, so she went to university and worked to make this plan reality. Unfortunately, after spending 20 minutes in a Middle School English classroom she had to rethink that plan. As part of her student loan package she needed to get a campus job, so she found a job at her university’s library. She found her passion here, since working in the library was enjoyable, extremely rewarding, and “truly magnificent.” Her first job as a librarian (outside of student work) was at the Ann Arbor Public Library, all the way up in Michigan. 

When she moved to Savannah (quite the change of weather) she began working at the Georgia Historical Society, which ignited her professionalism as she got her Masters in Librarian Information Science. If you ever need a good book to read, or help using the new library catalog, or a source to find, you know who to talk to: our very own Ms. Anderson.