Pris retires after 24 years as LES librarian

As a child, Lakeside Elementary School librarian Georgia Pris was always drawn to books. And she’s also always enjoyed children.

After earning a degree in elementary education, with a minor in library science, she felt settling into a career as a school librarian only made sense.

“Kids and books make a wonderful combination,” Pris said. “Reading a story is such a delightful way of sharing your time, and the perfect place for the two to come together is the school library.”

Pris has enjoyed her career as librarian at Lakeside Elementary School. After 24 years of overseeing the day-to-day operations of the school library, implementing various reading and writing programs and teaching children to read, she retired on June 15.

Pris was raised in Fargo, N.D. and she attended college in Minnesota. Before becoming a school librarian, Pris also taught kindergarten, second grade and music in eastern Montana. She has raised three children and has six grandchildren.

Pris has enjoyed her 24 years at the Lakeside school. Having the support of the community, the faculty and staff, as well as a loving and encouraging husband helped fuel her enthusiasm.

“All the people involved in the school are committed to the concept of education and kids — our future is there,” Pris said. “It’s been a great job.”

Over the years the children most enjoyed listening to Pris read her stories out loud. She had a variety of tricks to keep their interest and curiosity alive, such as singing her instructions, wearing silly socks and earrings and simply sharing her obvious love of books.

In addition to reading the books with the children, Pris taught them life-long skills as they pertain to books, including how to find a book using keywords in the index system, caring for a book and understanding the different parts of a book. She also taught them about different book genres found in the school library.

Her favorite genre is animal fiction and she is also fond of fantasy books such as the Harry Potter series. Pris especially enjoyed sharing picture books with the children.

“Picture books are great,” Pris said. “They make a great starting off point to initiate a discussion. I just love working with picture books.”

As a final keepsake, the children created and presented Pris with a colorful scrapbook, complete with drawings and thoughts scrawled on the pages and then carefully bound together. Statements such as, “We will miss you Mrs. Pris,” and “Thank you for teaching me to read,” are evidence that she made an impact in their lives.

“Making an impact in a child’s life, after all, is what teaching is all about,” Pris said

Pris is looking forward to her retirement. The more relaxed pace will hopefully free up time for her to play the piano, enjoy bike rides and walks with her husband and spend time with her granddaughter, who lives in Kalispell.

“I plan on taking the days as they come and enjoying what they provide,” Pris said. “I feel content that it’s time to say goodbye.”