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Kelly Spadin is new to the job of school librarian, but she is learning quickly that knowing about books is just one part of her responsibilities.

She also needs to know the curriculum for each grade level and all about the technology available to staff and students at Whetstone Elementary School in Montgomery Village.

Spadin really is no't even a librarian. She is a media specialist, one of 130 in the county's public elementary schools. She is also one of about 12 who are new to their jobs with the school system this year.

"They are called media specialists because the [early] trend to bring audio visual products into the instructional program through the libraries has continued," said Gail Bailey, director of school library media programs for Montgomery County Public Schools. "In addition to books, we have DVDs, online databases and digital content that assist students to have high-quality and correct information."

On a recent Thursday, Spadin was getting the media center in shape for the school year, learning the names of different staff members and answering questions from those who walked through her office looking for printer ink, colored computer paper, cables and cords, and, perhaps, one of the candy kisses she keeps on her desk.

All except the candy are details a media specialist is expected to provide for the staff.

As Spadin talked about her long road to the media center, it was obvious that it started with her love for book.

"I probably got that from my parents reading to me. I started reading very young and liked the independence of choosing a book," Spadin said.

Though students' book choices may have changed over the years, elementary students still enjoy read-aloud time at the media center.

Jayden Johnson, 8, a third-grader at Whetstone, loves the Clifford books, based on tales of an oversized red pooch, especially "Clifford the Hunting Dog," which last year's media specialist read to his class.

His sister, Jade, also 8 and in third grade, said she likes the books in the library, but also likes the help she gets with the computer.

Spadin worked in Montgomery County for nine years as a special education teacher, teaching all grade levels. But her heart always returned to stories and books.

So when the opportunity came to enroll in a program at Towson University to get a master's degree in information technology, she signed on, going to school evenings and summers.

Beside the traditional media center where each class comes to check out books, Spadin's responsibilities include a computer lab, a separate room with 30 computers where a whole class can work together. She also works with classroom teachers, coordinating schedules for the classes to use both the media center and the lab, and providing the support they need.

"The media specialist provides us with a great deal of curriculum support with materials we do not have access to in the classroom. By using the Web, she opens up a whole new world," said Mike DeSando, a fifth-grade teacher. "We really rely on her to provide support for the science and social studies curriculum."

Spadin is excited about the expanded role she will fill as a media specialist and excited about the educational opportunities all 600 Whetstone Elementary students will have in the media center.

"They call it information literacy," Spadin said.