Big News: I’m on the 2026 Printz Award Committee!

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 01:39:07 GMT

Hey. y’all! 🖤
I’m beyond thrilled (and honestly still pinching myself!) to share that I’ve been selected as one of eight committee members for the 2026 Michael L. Printz Award Committee! This incredible opportunity is made possible through YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) and the American Library Association, and I am so deeply honored and grateful to have been chosen.

The Michael L. Printz Award, established in 2000, honors the best book written for teens, based entirely on literary merit. It’s often referred to as the YA version of the Newbery and is one of the highest honors in the young adult literature world. Fun fact: 2025 will mark the 25th anniversary of the Printz Award—how cool is that?!

As you can imagine, this role comes with a great deal of responsibility, confidentiality, and LOTS of reading. So if you’ve been wondering why I haven’t posted any YA book reviews or videos lately (especially those of you who’ve reached out—thank you for checking in 💛), it’s because I’m not allowed to share any public thoughts about YA books during my time on the committee. It’s all very hush-hush, and I want to respect the process and the integrity of the award.

Also, let’s be real—between my dissertation and this incredible committee role, my plate is extra full right now. But don’t worry! I can still review and post about adult books, picture books, middle grade titles, and non-YA graphic novels, and I’ll do that when I can carve out the time.
Thank you so much for your continued support, love, and understanding as I balance all these exciting (and exhausting!) things. I’m still here, I’m still reading, and I’m so grateful you’re on this journey with me.

💋With love, grit, and grace, 💋
Stephanie
The Lispy Librarian

Dissertation Diaries: From Proposal to (God-Willing) Graduation!

Mon, 14 Apr 2025 22:00:00 GMT

Hey, y’all. 🖤
It’s been a while! Since I have a fantastic, supportive community that likes to ask how things with my doctorate are going, I thought I would give you an update! Pull up a chair, grab your favorite cup of cafecito (or maybe some calming tea if you’re feeling that doctoral stress too), and let me give you the latest update on Lispy Life in the Dissertation Lane.

Spoiler alert: it’s been a journey—a little-over-a-year-long, prayer-filled, brain-bending, tear-jerking, heart-expanding kind of journey. But isn’t that what growth always is?

Let’s rewind a bit for those of you wondering what a doctoral journey even looks like. I’m breaking it down real simple. The first three years of your doctoral program are coursework, then your final (and most daunting) task is to write and defend a dissertation.

A dissertation typically has five chapters. The first three make up your proposal, which you have to write, revise, and defend before your committee before you can do any actual research. Think of it as a very official "yes, you may proceed." I wanted to include this explanation because no one told me these things when I began this journey and had to read, research, and do a lot of figuring-it-out on my own.

Your proposal typically looks like this:
   Chapter 1: Chapter 1 is like a giant overview of what you want and plan to do. You write out your topic, why you are interested in it, why you think it is important to research, what you plan to find out, what is missing from the existing research, how you plan to find the data, and other stuff that my brain has repressed.
   Chapter 2: The literature review- aka the worst, hardest, and longest research paper you have ever written-EVER. This is where you have to find articles relating to your research topic, your data focus, and anything that anyone and everyone has ever written that could even be remotely related to your topic. For example, part of my topic is instructional technology, so I had to include the history of instructional technology and every article ever written about it. Then, since I am also writing about school librarians, I had to find information on them and how they are connected to instructional tech. Think of it as a giant justification of “here is what I am interested in this topic and why, and why my research will be valuable,” except it sucks.
   Chapter 3: Methods. This is where you write WHAT you plan to do. EVERY. FREAKING. DETAIL. From whom you want to interview, to why them, to whether you want to have a qualitative (focus on stories and data from interviews) or quantitative (data and numbers) study, and why one of those will work and the other won’t. And no, it’s not just you saying “This is what I want to do,” but based on everything you found for chapter 2. So basically, you can’t write or plan anything without justification from your lit review. *shudders in remembrance*

📝 Proposal Phase: A Year of Writing, Revising, and Refocusing
I started crafting my proposal in Summer 2023, and let me just say: writing three chapters that justify your research while juggling life, work, and everything else? It's no joke. But with persistence, caffeine, and divine guidance, I successfully defended my proposal in June 2024. 🙌🏽✨

🫥Proposal Defense and why is it so daunting?
Another thing that I didn’t know when I started this process was what the proposal defense can be like. When you defend your proposal, three things can happen: pass, pass with revisions, or fail. If you pass with revisions, your committee will tell you what revisions are needed and can either ask you to re-defend later, or can trust that you and your Chair (the head of your committee and kind of your guide and mentor during this process) will get the work done.

Another catch that I didn’t know- here’s something that I never thought would happen: one of my committee members left the university from which I am getting my doctorate and had to be replaced. TERRIFYING, MUCH?! Thankfully, I have a fantastic Chair whom I trusted to fill this spot. We found a great person to fill the place, and I was excited because they worked as an instructional technologist, and the other committee members have worked as school librarians before, so they filled a gap that I didn’t know I was looking for and would benefit from. HOWEVER, this person asked some thoughtful questions during my defense that I was unprepared to answer (you would think I would have been ready for this, but what can go wrong, will go wrong), so because of this, I passed with revisions. Still, the revisions were so much so that I may as well have failed (or at least, that's what it felt like), and I had to do ALOT of work on those revisions.

The revisions took me about five months. Now you’re probably thinking, “What?! Why did it take you so long?” Well, remember, I am also working full-time and trying to have a work-school-life balance, so this may have taken someone who wasn’t working less time, but for me, it took a lot more time than I expected. Also, things like this take a significant toll on your mental health, and I needed a break after this.

🛡️ What’s IRB and Why Does It Matter?
After your proposal is approved, you can’t just go out and interview people all willy-nilly. Nope. You’ve got to get clearance from the Institutional Review Board (IRB)—basically, a group that makes sure your research protects the rights and well-being of your participants.

Especially when working with human subjects (like my interviewees), this step is critical for ethical research. I submitted my IRB application around October and got approved around Thanksgiving 2024—definitely something to be thankful for! I was finally feeling like I had some traction again.

🎤 Interview Season
Once I had that green light, I got to work interviewing librarians throughout December and the beginning of January. These conversations were rich, honest, and inspiring—everything I hoped for. I wrapped up transcription work in January 2025, and now…

📊 Analysis + Writing Mode: Activated
I'm deep in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 mode—aka the part where I make sense of all the data and share what it means. This stage takes time, thought, and a lot of prayer for clarity (and let's be real, focus too 🧠💫).

I’m definitely not as active on my social media and in my blogging as I used to be, but some things take a back seat when you’re juggling a lot of things. If I have learned anything through this process, it is how to prioritize and how to say “no” to things that don’t align with my current goals.

I tend to go radio silent sometimes and work without updating, because as the great Weezy once said, “...move in silence like lasagna.” 😌✨ I’ve always believed there’s power in quiet progress—letting the work speak before I do. So while I’m sharing this update with y’all now, just know there are still parts of this journey I’m keeping tucked close to my chest.
If all goes according to plan—and God’s timing aligns with my typing—I’m aiming to defend my full dissertation this summer and walk across that graduation stage in either August or December 2025. 🙏🏽🎓

🎓💃🏽 Just typing that feels wild. This journey has seriously been the most humbling and hardest thing I have ever done, but to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel is something I can’t even describe.

Final Thoughts
This has been one of the most intense, humbling, and transformative seasons of my life, but I wouldn’t trade it. I’m growing not just as a researcher but also as a woman of faith, an advocate for librarians, and a believer in the power of stories—especially the kind school librarians tell every day through their work.
Keep praying for me and keep me in your thoughts, y’all. I’m almost there. And if you’re on a doctoral journey too—I see you. Keep pushing. Keep writing. Keep believing.

With love, grit, and grace,
Stephanie Galvan Russell
The Lispy Librarian

📚 Dissertation Process: Infographic Overview
Here's a visual for my fellow visual learners. Save it. Share it. Use it to explain to your family why you’re still in school and why this process takes so long. 😅

TCEA Notes

Sun, 13 Feb 2022 03:59:50 GMT

If you weren't able to attend #TCEA22 or simply want more resources, my notes can be found at: https://bit.ly/lispy-TCEA22-notes.

Enjoy!

Pandemic Reflection

Wed, 02 Jun 2021 02:52:05 GMT

My first assignment for this Summer's semester is to reflect on the pandemic and how it changed how I use technology in my work and school. For those of you who have been wanting a life update, here's one ?

Librarians on YouTube Panel

Wed, 19 May 2021 22:00:00 GMT

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Job Update!

Wed, 28 Apr 2021 23:00:00 GMT

It’s official! Today was my 1st day in my new adventure as an Innovative Learning Specialist,&I couldn’t be more thrilled! I’m getting to share my love of EdTech, rsrch, and innovation with ALL grade levels and incorporate what I’m learning as an ISDT student. #lifeupdate pic.twitter.com/NqEbQoeqiN
— Stephanie □✨TechBrujita✨ □ (@lispylibrarian) April 29, 2021

On Hiatus

Tue, 02 Mar 2021 17:00:00 GMT

I've had a couple people reach out lately about my social media silence lately. Please know that I'm ok although in a crappy mental space. February was hard, but I'm hopeful that March will be better. I'm not ready to talk about what's going on yet, but y'all will know when I am.
— Stephanie □✨TechBrujita✨ □ (@lispylibrarian) March 2, 2021

Tech It Over Episode 2: SPEDucating Technology

Thu, 13 Aug 2020 22:27:20 GMT

Buncee Creative Beginnings: Day 2: Keeping Students Engaged from Afar

Tue, 04 Aug 2020 23:00:00 GMT

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