For Immediate Release

September 18, 2025

Ten New York School Librarians become Certified Sustainable

Librarians from across New York City and Long Island are recognized as leaders in sustainability for their work on the SLI’s new nationwide certification program for school librarians.

            Suffolk County, NY –September 18, 2025 – The first New York City cohort of school librarians (pictured above in the order listed below) to go through the new-and-improved Sustainable Library Certification Program (SLCP) for school librarians have been designated as “Certified Sustainable.”

Kicking off the nationwide release of the Sustainable Libraries Initiative’s refurbished Sustainable Library Certification Program for school librarians in December 2024, this cohort became trailblazers for the new program: a benchmarking system with 5 sections designed to provide school media specialists with exclusive resources and guidelines to shift towards a cleaner, greener, and more equitable future and help integrate sustainable practices into the library curriculum.

Newly certified members of this group, representing Long Island and four out of the five New York City boroughs, include: 

• Ariela Rothstein (Springfield Gardens Campus)

• Carolina Crespo (The Castle Hill Middle School)                                                  *no image available

• Holly Brown (Bard High School Early College Queens)

• Jennifer Cannell (The Park Slope Education Complex at M.S. 88)

• Kathleen Roberts (The Cathedral School of St. John the Divine)

• Lindsay Valentine (Park Early Childhood Center, Roosevelt School)

• Mandy Feddern (I.S. 303 – Rachel Carson High School for Coastal Studies)

• Mina Leazer (Seward Park Campus)

• Seth Pompi (High School for Health Professions and Human Services)                *no image available

• Tara Lallbachan (West Middle School)                                                              *no image available

Bard High School Early College Queens Librarian Holly Brown remarks, “Activities we do with students in the library can extend into their classrooms but also, into their homes and future lives. The seed library we set up is an example of this. I was surprised to see how many students wanted to grow their own seedlings, care for them and bring them home. Conversations around what families grow at home was yet another avenue of connection.”

The Sustainable Libraries Initiative is approved by The New York Department of Education to provide 15 Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) credits to all school librarians licensed in New York State that complete the SLCP to reflect the importance of building sustainability into the culture of education.

“Completing the Sustainable Libraries Initiative certification program has been truly transformative for my practice, sharpening my leadership skills and empowering me to champion innovative, equitable programs like our aeroponic tower garden and cultivate a more diverse and representative collection for our students,” said Tara Lallbachan, a school media specialist in the Brentwood Union Free School District on Long Island. “This experience has fundamentally redefined the positive impact the West Middle School Library Media Center has on our students and community every single day.”

For more information, please view a collection of final presentations from SLI school librarians here or reach out to SLI staff by emailing sliadmin@suffolknet.org.

About the Sustainable Libraries Initiative

The Sustainable Libraries Initiative is a member-driven organization that empowers library professionals to be leaders in triple-bottom-line sustainability (environmental stewardship, social equity, and economic feasibility) both within their organizations and in their communities. The Sustainable Library Certification Program is now enrolling public and academic libraries, library systems, and school librarians.