Faculty Profile: Diana Rivers
Meet Diana Rivers, Burke's Lower School Librarian and Digital Media Specialist!
Diana brings a wealth of experience as a classroom teacher and a librarian in independent schools, as well as the Noe Valley branch of the SF Public Library. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Barnard, and two Master’s degrees: the first in Education from Arizona State University, and the second in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University.
Diana grew up in suburban New Jersey, and completed her student teaching in New York. She loved the vibrancy and diversity of the schools in New York City, and she feels like the vibrancy of the students is alive and well in the Burke’s community. “I love observing teacher’s interactions with students and learning from those interactions. It’s a continual process; I was learning from other educators when I was 22, and I am continuing to learn today as I observe Burke’s teachers.” She is overjoyed to be at Burke’s. “I love the positive energy and friendliness that I’ve found on campus.”
Diana has been teaching for 15 years, and has always been an avid reader. She became a Librarian because she loves finding information and helping people find information. She loves reading with students and for her own enjoyment. One of her favorite activities is reading aloud with students, because “it can elicit such interesting responses from students and tap into deep thinking skills for them.” She strongly believes in the importance of reading for pleasure, and feels that is one of the most important things the Library brings to students. “I love Library Skills and Digital Media, and parlaying those into lessons for the children.”
One of the first lessons Burke’s students review is about the Dewey Decimal system, which is still used to catalog non-fiction. I still go over how to navigate shelves, starting with third-graders.” Diana also covers how to use the online catalog and other library resources, and books that students can borrow. Every library has its own classification systems, and Burke’s is no different. We have green, blue, yellow and red dot books, and for instance, picture books are categorized as E for everybody. She spends a lot of time teaching students how to pick books that interest them, and that dovetail with their reading levels.
As a Barnard alumna, Burke’s school mission resonated very strongly with her. “I feel really passionate about educating girls. I think sometimes in coed schools, girls don’t get enough air time, so I love that they can fully be themselves here at Burke’s. I love when they see me outside and yell ‘Mrs. Rivers I love reading! I finished a book last night and it was so good.’ They are so enthusiastic to tell me about themselves as readers.”
In addition to being an enthusiastic reader, Diana likes to read multiple books at the same time. “Reading is my number one hobby. I’m currently reading The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart. I like it because I keep wanting to know what’s going to happen, and it’s just a really sweet book.” As a child, her favorite books were the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary.
In her free time, Diana is a dedicated baker of sweets and savory breads. Her specialty is chocolate chip cookies and brownies. She also enjoys long walks at Fort Funston with her Shih Tzu, Jamie.
Burke's mission is to educate, encourage and empower girls. Our school combines academic excellence with an appreciation for childhood so that students thrive as learners, develop a strong sense of self, contribute to community, and fulfill their potential, now and throughout life.
Burke's admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.