By Rodney Hays

Staff Writer

Doug Valentine, school librarian at McKillop Elementary School in Melissa, was named the winner of Carnegie Corporation of New York and the New York Times "I Love My Librarian Award."

Valentine was one of 10 librarians out of thousands nominated recognized in the national award. According to the release sent out by the American Library Association read, " Valentine uses technology to foster a collaborative atmosphere between the library and the classroom. Valentine has worked with students to create self-scripted videos of famous Texas battles for history projects and engaged students students in science with a signature online video series."

Valentine's nomination letter was written by fellow teacher Karen Rose, who is also Valentine's wife. In the letter, Rose speaks about how Valentine has helped students at his school.

"The list of Mr. Valentine's projects is a long and varied one. Not only has he helped me on numerous projects but he is involved in nearly every special activity that takes place on campus. He views everything through the lens of 'what is best for the students and what will make them shine.' Because of this everyone feels a part of the wonder that we call our school library. To truly experience some of Mr. Valentine's projects you will need to follow the provided online links to his work."

The letter talks about a third grader in Melissa with Asperger's Syndrome who was inspired by Valentine to write a screenplay about Batman. Valentine helped bring the screenplay to life with a video.

"His classmates love the video and at least a few weeks afterward he was a hero to his entire grade level," the letter stated.

Valentine has also created other instructional videos, some of which have received more than 75,000 hits on Teachertube.

Rose also wrote about how Valentine has made McKillop a better place.

"Valentine has made this a better place is by transforming the culture of our school," the nomination letter read. "He opened the library two years ago in our brand new building with one vision: to make the library the heart of the school. He began by filling the library with 12,000 books that he chose to both thrill and inspire the students and support the teachers. His philosophies match well with Ranganathan's laws of the library, especially 'to every reader his or her book' and 'the library is a growing organism.' Mr. Valentine has almost single-handedly turned what was an empty box three years ago into a vital component in the school's educational process. He immediately made an impact with the faculty by making each one an individualized custom poster to promote reading in their classrooms."

This isn't the first time Valentine has been recognized for his accomplishments. In 2007, Valentine won the Avermedia Challenge. And in 2009, Valentine won a $30,000 eInstruction video makeover video contest.

"Any prize money has gone right back into the school and has been used to purchase library equipment, video equipment, and instructional software along with the purchase of equipment to start a drama program at the school. Mr. Valentine estimates that the school has received at least $55,000 in cash and equipment as a result of winning these contests. Truly a remarkable accomplishment."