Because my educational journey will take me to a school library rather than a classroom, my philosophy focuses on reading. I believe there is a reader in every child and to unlock that reader each child must be seen as an individual so that their unique passion for learning is ignited. I know there has been a tremendous amount of research showing how reading can improve a child's grades and test scores, but reading is much more powerful than that. Reading alters you on a personal level in such a way that you will never see yourself or the world around you the same way again. Possessing this ability to broaden children's horizons is why I want to become a librarian, and to be the kind of teacher and librarian who positively influences the lives of their students requires thoughtfulness and the ability to change on my part. This involves honest and ongoing introspection of my own biases and beliefs, matching my actions to my “talk” so that my library is inclusive and affirming of diversity, and maintaining a true desire to reach every child through literature . The first step is to look honestly and objectively with myself because, as Mrs. Fitzpatrick warned in her class, “…what you are essentially teaching your students is you,” so it is important for me to truly know myself. Everything that has happened up to this point in my life has shaped me into the person I am and that directs how I interact with others. This is especially critical to me because I understand what impact a teacher can have on their students, for better or worse, and as I stated before I want to have a positive effect on my students. So, self-examination can help develop a better sense of self and greater awareness… in the middle of the paper… and within the library, so that the same enthusiasm is evoked in my students. I will remember how much richer my life is because of reading and I will strive to provide this enrichment to others because I simply cannot imagine my life without books and libraries. References Allison, D. (1994). A class issue. In H. S. Shapiro, K. Latham, & S. N. Ross (Eds.), The Institute of Education (5th ed., ch. 12). Boston, MA: Pearson. Nieters, L. (2011). Seeing and understanding the classroom in schools. Class assignment, page. 1-5.Risner, Doug (n.d.). What Matthew Shepard would tell us: Gay and lesbian issues in education. In H. S. Shapiro, K. Latham, & S. N. Ross (Eds.), The Institute of Education (5th ed., ch. 12). Boston, MA: Pearson.Woodward, Jeanette (2005). Create the customer-oriented library: build on the library model. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.