Learning Commons librarian Jennifer Bigioni to retire after 31 years at PHS

For Jennifer Bigioni, being a librarian was always in the books.

“I was a huge reader as a kid, and I was also a very good researcher. I remember being in elementary school and helping all the kids use the card catalog and showing them how to use the periodic guide,” said Bigioni.

However, in college, Bigioni wanted to work in the State Department at the Soviet Union embassy. That is, until the Soviet Union collapsed. Bigioni’s professor encouraged her to pursue a career in education instead, and her teaching career began. Bigioni started as a substitute teacher at West Windsor Plainsboro Regional High School and later became a social studies teacher there. Then, while working one summer on her social studies curriculum, she realized the school needed a librarian to facilitate good learning, and returned to her childhood passion.

“I was working one summer and I’m like, ‘They’re going to need a really good librarian to help them with all of this — maybe I should be a librarian.’ So I got myself into grad school and ... I was like, this totally feels right,” said Bigioni.

Bigioni later began working at PHS in 1994 as a social studies teacher and later as the Learning Commons Media Specialist in 2013. She remembers falling in love with the beautiful building, welcoming people, and the close relationship between faculty and students. She has now been a part of the PHS community for 31 years and plans to retire this March.

“There was something calling to me about Princeton, and once I started working here, I knew I would have a hard time working anywhere else because there’s a lot of academic freedom here, which is wonderful,” said Bigioni.

In her time here at PHS, Bigioni has strived to make the Learning Commons a space that every student feels comfortable using. Bigioni also worked to make sure that students went to the Learning Commons at least once over their four years at PHS.

Bigioni has also diversified the reading selection by adding manga, graphic novels, fantasy series, and fiction on top of the academic books already carried by the Learning Commons, drawing on student book recommendations and professional journals to stay updated on reading trends.

“When [I] first started here, students didn’t take out any books. They didn’t even know they were allowed to borrow the books, so our circulation was almost at zero,” Bigioni said. “I really worked with students to find out what they wanted to read. [They] wanted to read manga. They wanted to read graphic novels, ... different fantasy series, so I bought them. [And] nothing makes me happier than seeing students who are really happy about being able to read and having the books here for them.”

In addition, Bigioni stresses the importance of academic integrity in a time when students are increasingly relying on technology to think for them. Through the Learning Commons, Bigioni has held professional development sessions for teachers regarding the use of AI in learning spaces, as well as training people in AI detection.

“It does bother me when I see there are various structures in place that make it difficult for students to do everything that they need to do — over scheduling is causing these issues, and [AI] is the shortcut to getting a grade without doing the learning. [It’s hard] for me to witness, and to not be able to solve,” Bigioni said.

In her retirement this spring, Bigioni and her husband plan to move to Ireland to be closer to their daughters, travel the world, and volunteer. However, Bigioni hopes that PHS students continue to read and learn.

“If you don’t know how to ... do your own research, you will forever be fooled by whoever controls that information. That’s something really critical for every individual, but it’s [also] really critical for our world,” said Bigioni. “It’s hard to convince a 15 year-old or a 16 year-old of how important the learning that they’re doing now is going to have for not only their future, but the future of other people too. But it’s true. It really is true.”