Mr. Tom New is the library media specialist or “Hubrarian” of Grayslake North High School. So far he has been working at the hub for over half a year, but he has over ten years of experience on how to manage the hub. He said he had a vision of what he wanted the hub to be, saying that he wanted it to be more than just a library.

“We needed a space that was not just a library. I wanted it to be more of a library, to be a library, a creative space, a chill space, a space where teachers can come do meetings, a place where kids can have meetings,” New said.

New states the reason why he likes to work at the hub is because it’s a combination of things he did over his career. “The reason I want to do this job is because it’s kind of a combination of a lot of different things I´ve done over my career,“ New said.

New started out as an English teacher, has taught yearbook, and has been a technology integration specialist, which means he helped teachers integrate technology into their lessons and helped with tech problems. He helped teachers so that they could get used to using 21st century technology methods for their lessons.

While working in the hub, New works with his former student, Emily Pahl, who went to school in 2013 while New was teaching his first year here at Grayslake North. He taught her in a creative writing class. Ms. Pahl only had Mr. New for her senior year. New has stated he loves working with Ms. Pahl because they each bring different viewpoints into what they want to see the hub turn into.

“I love working with him because we each bring a different kind of like viewpoint into what we want to see this place look like, and we all have these great ideas,” Pahl said. She describes working with New as “one of my favorite parts of the job” and “a very wonderful working environment.”

She has stated that New genuinely cares about the students and what they are going through.
“Not only is he a great mentor, but he’s also a great friend. He genuinely cares about his co-workers, his students and essentially everybody who enters his life,” Pahl said.