Professional Biography

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Martha Bongiorno is a national speaker and presenter, school library activist, and creator of possibilities. With experience in rural and metro communities and in all grade level bands, she is currently serving as a school librarian in Metro Atlanta. Martha supports students and educators by pushing boundaries of traditional education to empower learners as thinkers and creators to make positive change in their communities. With her unique perspective from the heart of the school, she explores how the tapestry of learning is interwoven with literacy, technology, creativity, and student voice.

Beyond her work as a school librarian, she is honored to be elected as the President of the Georgia Library Media Association. A past AASL Social Media Superstar for Advocacy, Martha’s passion projects include supporting and mentoring other school librarians, embedding social-emotional literacy in the library, and utilizing project-based learning as a catalyst for real-world problem solving. Her other accolades include being named the 2018 Coastal Georgia Library Media Specialist of the Year, the 2019 Fulton County Library Media Specialist of the Year, and a 2020 Professional of the Year for Fulton County. Martha also participates in the larger educational community as an ISTE Ambassador, ISTE Certified Educator, Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert and Master Trainer, a Flipgrid Student Voice Ambassador since 2016, a Wakelet Ambassador, and an Adobe Creative Educator.

When she is not working, Martha treasures spending time with her husband and two children exploring the mountains, cosplaying at DragonCon, and reading high fantasy series.

Skills & Certifications

Martha is an ISTE Ambassador, ISTE Certified Educator, Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert and Microsoft Trainer Expert, serves as a Flipgrid Student Voice Ambassador, sparks creativity as an Adobe Creative Educator, and is a certified Nearpod Trainer. She has extensive experience with embedding literacy within STEAM and utilizing AR/VR (augmented and virtual reality) in an educational setting

Recent Presentations and Publications

Martha has presented at state, national, and international conferences, including the Future of Education Technology Conference, Georgia Education Technology Conference, International Society for Technology in Education Conference, American Association of School Librarians Conference, and International Reading Association Conference. The following list is not inclusive and only lists the most recent presentations and speaking engagements:
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Coaching, Mentoring, and Consulting

In addition to speaking engagements and workshops, I have worked with districts and organizations to tailor coaching cycles with school library professionals and educators on a variety of topics including project-based learning, Adobe Creative Cloud, social and emotional literacy, and establishing SMART goals for school librarians focused around the ISTE, Future Ready Librarians, and/or AASL standards.

Organized Events

  • 2021 - Established the first mentorship program for Georgia Library Media Association
  • 2021 - Assisted with Fulton Education Conference for a school system serving almost 100,000 students
  • 2020 - First Virtual Georgia School Librarians EdCamp
  • 2020 - Wrote the Crosswalk between Georgia School Library Evaluation Instrument standards, ISTE Standards for Educators, and Future Ready Librarians Framework
  • 2020 - First Georgia Middle Grades EdCamp
  • 2019 - First Georgia School Library EdCamp
  • 2016 - Established #GaLibChat, the first Twitter chat for school librarians in Georgia