More than you'd ever want to know about...

Mr. Girsdansky, Librarian and Technology Coordinator


The Skinny...

SCHOOL NAMES: Mr. G, Mr. Girsdansky
REAL NAME: Paul S. Girsdansky
SCHOOL: Frankfort-Schuyler Middle-High School
POSITION: Librarian / Technology Coordinator
SEASON: 12th in Education, 10th at the Middle/High School
HEIGHT: 5' 10"
WEIGHT: No comment
SCHOOL PHONE: 315.895.7461 ext. 3143
SCHOOL EMAIL: pgirsdansky@frankfort-schuyler.org

My Professional Mission...

My job is to make information available and to teach people how to use it efficiently and wisely. I believe that information -- and the ability to work with it -- is essential for living in the 21st century. I consider each of our school's computers as a way to extend the reach of our school's library -- that's why each one is set to the library's homepage at 13340.org. It's a useful site that can be accessed at home, or anywhere in the world with a computer and Internet connection!

About Mr. G...

I was born in New York City in 1961, but lived most of my life in and around the Mohawk Valley. I live in Schoharie County with my wife and daughter, who is a senior at Cobleskill-Richmondville High School and at the New Visions Journalism Program at Albany BOCES.

I was a newspaper reporter from 1983-1988, and a newspaper editor from 1988 to 1994. Journalists tend to bounce around a lot, and I worked for newspapers in Annapolis, Md., and in Troy, Utica, Schenectady and Albany, N.Y.

From 1994-1997, I worked as deputy director of the New York Library Association, a statewide organization that works for better libraries. Some of this work was devoted to training librarians to be friendlier and more outgoing to customers. Some of my work was devoted to developing public support for better funding of libraries.

In 1997, I started my career in school libraries. For two years, I worked mornings at Reese Road Elementary School, and afternoons at Owen D. Young Central School in Van Hornesville. When Miss Lupica retired in 1999, I was appointed to her position here at the Middle-High School. I have a bachelor's degree from Excelsior College in Albany (history, 1986), and master's degrees from the University of Maryland (journalism, 1989) and the University at Albany (library science, 1996). Most recently, I completed my Ed.S. degree from the University of Missouri (learning technologies, 2005). For the last 3 years, I've partici

My hobbies include reading, folk music, my four dogs (Gobo, Chester, Roswell and Rosie), and following the fortunes of the Chicago Cubs and teams of the University of Maryland and the University of Missouri. I am a big fan of the Newfie band Great Big Sea, which I've seen in Alberta, Virginia, Massachusetts and New York.

However my favorite hobby is travel. I try to get to Nova Scotia every summer, and some of my favorite spots in recent years have been New Mexico, Oregon, Alberta and Newfoundland. To make trips more affordable, I move RVs for a rental company a couple weeks a year. It lets me see the country and provides me with free transportation and lodging!