Library
Welcome to the BHS Library
Welcome BHS Students!
The amazing dynamic duo of Teacher-Librarian TuesD Chambers and Britta Bowman, Library assistant who are looking forward to another year of support from the parent group and community in fostering a culture of literacy and learning within our school community. We also want to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for the role you all play in making our library the vibrant center of learning and discovery.
~ Teacher TuesD Chambers and Assistant Librarian Britta Bowman.
Announcements
Laptop Returns
Return Laptops, Chargers and Books between 9:00 – 3:30 a.m. in the Ballard HS Library.
- Seniors! June 10 & June 11 (Check Out Form)
- Grades 9 – 11: June 15, 16, and early on the 17
Summer Library Hours
- Summer Hours: July 23 & August 13 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Lemonade, Mustaches, and Tours of the School.
Library News!
Students please return, library books, text books and district Laptops.
Summer Hours: July 23 & August 13 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Lemonade, Mustaches, and Tours of the School.
Pick Up the Talisman Student Newspaper and read all the news.
Students have access to homework help with Seattle Public Libraries and Tutor.com.
Service Learning Opportunities.
School Librarians United with Amy Hermon
BHS Teacher Librarian TuesD Chambers
School Librarians United, a podcast dedicated to the nuts and bolts of running a successful school library. Tune in to learn all about the issues and challenges school librarians face everyday! Episode 347: Library Joy
Ballard HS Teacher Librarian TuesD Chambers and Lincoln HS in Portland Teacher Librarian Lori Lieberman share favorite programs in their school libraries that generate excitement and student (and staff) engagement.
Follow Our Library Instagram!
Follow the Beaver Readers Ballard High School Instagram for updates. Find out all about all the great things happening in the Ballard HS Library. Check it out! Use the link below or search for BeaverReadersBHS in the Instagram app and stay connected and get involved.
Examples of Activities in the BHS Library
- Blow Balloons Beavers – Blow into balloons and knock over the red solo cups, lined up with the breath from the balloons.
- Beaver Ball Juggling – Juggle blown up balloons across the library without them falling.
- Beaver Bingo – Library trivia and book Bingo.
- Beaver Bracelets – Make a bracelet with the beads on a paper plate.
- Beaver Cotton Bowl – Work with partner to get cotton balls into plastic bins while blindfolded and listening to your partners directions.
- Beaver Ball – Hit balloons back and forth with fly swatters. If they fall on the ground the other team gets a point.
Free Math Tutor Available Mon – Thursday
We are so lucky to have Ballard community tutors who come to our library every week to support students. This is math tutoring for our students and it is COMPLETELY FREE! Stop by the library circulation counter and sign up!
- Where: Ballard High School Library
- When: Every Monday – Thursday afternoon, 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
- Running Start students stop by and sign up
- Who: Volunteer community members.
- How: Drop into the library after school — or, to guarantee a 20-minute session, put your name on the sign-up sheet.
Peter Seitel has been a long-time Ballard HS tutor and is looking forward to the new school year. He had a career as a Geologist and Geophysicist before becoming an IT consultant and small business owner. He is available to assist students with all Math courses- from Algebra to AP Calculus and first year Physics. He can also assist with ACT or SAT practice.
Service Learning Hours, Resources & More
Students! Service Learning Hours Available!
Students have earned Community Service Learning hours for:
- shelving books, processing books
- fixing shelves
- doing computer maintenance
- reading to 2nd grade students for Reading Buddies
- organizing our Makerspace
- creating online tutorials,
- making scrolling PowerPoint
- Makerspace craft, projects for lunchtime, make book displays, weed books
- create book posters on Adobe Spark
- create Rubik’s Cube murals
- read first chapters aloud for Youtube channel and Schoology
- theme Picture Books, clean the library, and create Book Collections on Ballard High School Library.
Reach out to Ms Chambers at tschambers@seattleschools.org for specific details. Visit the BHS Service Learning page for school information and forms.
Laptops
Great news, we have tech support hours Mon, Wed, and Fri from 8 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. in N110. Please send students there for replacement laptops that are broken. Just a reminder, we do not check out laptops to students who have forgotten them at home. We don’t have enough replacement computers to do that. All SPS students are required to use an SPS laptop. We distributed these to students the first week of school and they must be returned at the end of the school year.
New! Student Library Link Pin Changing
Library Link is a program that provides access to the Seattle Public Library’s electronic resources for SPS students, including Ballard High School. Your student ID gives you access to the Seattle Public Library’s vast collection of information resources. For more information, visit the Library Link homepage.
The Library Link PINs for students are changing for 2025-26. They are no longer MM/DD. Now they are the last four digits of the student ID. Log onto Library Link.
All Seattle Public Schools students can create a Library card number with their student ID number.
The student PIN is the last 4 digits of the Library Link account number.
The Library Link number is 990000 (four zeroes) followed by the 7-digit Student ID number to create a 13-digit number.
School Library Month Grand Slam Wrap Up!
Join in celebrating our participating SPS Librarian sluggers, they hit knowledge out of the park every day! Step up to the plate, it’s a grand slam for everyone when we have great libraries. Please enjoy this video below with the beautiful Library MVP Baseball Cards Becky Shipe (Sanislo Elementary Librarian) designed with all of the participating SPS Librarians. Let’s all swing for the fences and share the great things happening in our libraries all year long! ~ BHS Librarian TuesD Chambers (check out her card at 9:15:00!)
Ms. Chambers Talks Hacking Digital Tools
Teacher-Librarian Ms. Chambers presented “Hacking Digital Tools” at the 2024 Washington Library Association Conference March 1-3 in Spokane.
Visit the BHS Library to get more information on how the work being done at the BHS Library is supporting teaching and learning in a time when Ai is changing so quickly.
Thank you Ms. Chambers!
More Than Books: TuesD Chambers
At Ballard High School, TuesD Chambers can barely contain her excitement.
TuesD Chambers BHS Librarian-Teacher
Her love for her role as teacher-librarian is evident throughout the library. She has made the room a place where students can connect. There is a room for arts and crafts, areas for clubs to gather, and spaces for classes to meet.
“What I believe is with any library it has to be more than books,” she said. “Your library has to be the heart of the school for everyone.”
When the pandemic forced schools to close for nearly a year, Chambers had to get creative to attract students to check out books.
She organized curbside book checkouts – but with a twist. Students with a green thumb could pick up plant starters. One check-out day had a pet parade, and another had a band playing. The excitement around the library continued once schools reopened.
With the help of students, she created a group called Library Leaders. The goal is to build a community where everyone can be included, even if they don’t like to read. “We’ve done everything from ‘Blind Date with Books’ to podcasts to playlists to decorating the library … I learned pretty quickly that a library can’t exist with just one person.”
Like Robert, Chambers also spends the bulk of her day supporting classrooms. Her library opens early and is usually packed with students before she even arrives. Once school begins, Chambers will spend four or five periods a day co-teaching a class. “I’m constantly doing the things teachers don’t have time to do,” she said. “I’m supporting staff in a way that I hope makes their lives easier and makes it more seamless for students to get resources.”
Chambers knows the value of her role as Ballard’s teacher-librarian and others throughout the district. She is proud of the way students have found their place and built a community in her library.
“To me, this is the biggest classroom in the school.” Read full article on the SPS website.
Welcome Ms. Bowman!
Ms. Bowman is the Library Assistant and Ms. Chambers is very excited to welcome her to the Ballard High School Library!
Britta has over 18 years of experience working in and with K-8 schools. She started as a parent volunteer when her daughter was in kindergarten and since then, has held various PTA leadership positions and spent many years tutoring elementary students in math. Prior to working in the BHS library, she was the registrar/administrative secretary at Salmon Bay K-8 school for six years. Working with students, staff and school communities brings much joy these past 18 years. She strongly believes in supporting all students in their educational and social/emotional needs and goals. When not working in the library, she spends time hiking in the PNW, gardening, reading, knitting and road tripping.
Talisman Article with Library Assistant Ms. Bowman!
From the Nov. 8, 2023 Talisman Student School Newspaper article: If you have been visiting the library lately you may have noticed a new face checking out books and helping out students: Britta Bowman, the new library assistant. She helps out in the library, assisting students in finding books, checking out books, assisting students in any other ways they may need, as well as serving the community. “I have always liked books,” Assistant Librarian Bowman said. “When I was little, everybody in my family were big readers, so I would find if we were together as a family, that nobody would talk to me because they were all reading, so I (knew I) better start reading a book.”
Bowman also loves helping people and the library gives her a space to do this. “My favorite part about my job is probably interacting with the students and helping them find a book that they’re looking for,” Bowman said. “It’s nice to be surrounded by books of all kinds especially genres that I’m not familiar with ….” Read Talisman Staff Reporter Phoenix E. full story. Photo by Talisman photographer Tansy V.
Students! View your Account For Books, Textbooks and Laptops Checked Out To You
Take the BHS Library Survey!
Let us know how you would like to get involve.
What do you like to do.
How the library can support you in your search for happiness.
Evergreen Teen Book Awards
Favorite Young Adult Book
Winner! Iron Widow, by Xiran Jay Zhao Evergreen Books: Love in English, by Marie E. Andreu, Firekeeper’s Daughter,by Angeline Boulley, Skin of the Sea, by Natasha Bowen, Code Name Badass: The True Story of Virginia Hall, by Heather Demetrios, You’d Be Home Now, by Kathleen Glasgow, Perfect On Paper, by Sophie Gonzales, Before We Disappear, by Shaun David Hutchinson, The Initial Insult, by Mindy McGinnis, The Girls I’ve Been, by Tess Sharpe
Parent Volunteers in the Library Always Needed and Appreciated
Email Ms. Chambers; tschambers@seattleschools.org if interested we would love to have you!
The BHS Library and Librarian TuesD Chambers appreciates all the PTSA Volunteer support and help in the library to help all students! Thank you Ballard HS Parents/Guardians you are the best! Parent volunteers are needed to help in the Ballard Library by signing up for regular weekly shifts during the school day. This is a great opportunity for parents who are able and interested to come 2 hours a week at the same time each week. Help our fantastic librarian Ms. Chambers with checking in books, book displays, re-shelving and other special projects! Questions? Email Ms. Chambers; tschambers@seattleschools.org Please note that SPS requires all volunteers to complete their volunteer approval process before you can volunteer. Reach out to Ms. Chambers; tschambers@seattleschools.org Thank you!
Students! Hang Out & Read in the Library
Student Resources
As of May 26, 2026