Phone: 316-973-1750
Email:
Degrees and Certifications:
BA - Elementary Education MLS - Library and Information Science Endorsement - ESOL
Mr. G - Your Library Man
Welcome to the Allen Elementary Library! My name is Andrew Gonzalez and I will be your child’s library media specialist this year. This is my thirteenth year of teaching and I am very thrilled to be working with your student, the Allen staff, and our community at large. It is my intention to create a safe, positive, and organized environment in our library. As your child's teacher-librarian, he/she will learn lifelong skills in literacy, information, and technology!
Our library is not like the stereotypical libraries of the 20th century. It is not a place to "just check out books," it is way more than that. It is our community hub! We are building a community of strong and independent readers, information seekers, and technology users.
It is my belief that 21st Century students should learn and know 21st Century skills. I am happy to teach these skills. Everyday of the week, students are working on literature and information skills using the resources in our library. On Thursdays, students are working on S.T.E.M. skills with an emphasis on problem solving using Technology and Engineering. It is my hope that these skills allow our students to grow as library users and life-long learners.
-
In library classes, we are taught to be 21st century learners! We learn skills in reading, information, and technology. We learn how to find books we are interested in and how to tell if they are too easy, too hard, or just right for us. It's a great place to be!! 
Destiny is our districts online catalog. We can use the online catalog to locate books in the library. When you search for a book, remember to write down the book's call number to identify its location in our library.
Click here to search Destiny.
-
Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
by Javaka Steptoe Year Published: 20162017 Caldecott Award Winner - Radiant Child presents the life of the artist, who was inspired as a child by a book of anatomy given to him by his mother after being injured in a car crash and who went on to become a celebrity in the art world before his early death at twenty-eight.
The Girl Who Drank the Moon
by Kelly Barnhill Year Published: 20162017 Newbery Award Winner - "An epic fantasy about a young girl raised by a witch, a swamp monster, and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, who must unlock the powerful magic buried deep inside her. Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the forest, Xan, is kind and gentle. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster named Glerk and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, Fyrian. Xan rescues the abandoned children and delivers them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey. One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinarymagic. Xan decides she must raise this enmagicked girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. To keep young Luna safe from her own unwieldy power, Xan locks her magic deep inside her. When Luna approaches her thirteenth birthday, her magic begins to emerge onschedule-but Xan is far away. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Soon, it is up to Luna to protect those who have protected her-even if it means the end of the loving, safe world she's always known"
We Are Growing: A Mo Willems’ Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! Book
by Laurie Keller Year Published: 2016Theodor Seuss Geisel Award Winner - We are Growing! Observing how his fast-growing friends are becoming the tallest, curliest or silliest members of their grass patch while he appears to stay the same, spindly little grass blade Walt discovers his own special distinctiveness in the wake of a big surprise.
