Louise Campbell
Founder of The Booking Tree
Louise was born and raised in England until the age of 10 when she moved to the United States. Though she lost most of her English accent in the subsequent years, her British mannerisms, word choice, and ritual of an afternoon cup of tea have remained. Louise attended Villanova University and triple majored in criminal justice, psychology, and sociology with a concentration in peace and justice. Louise knew that though she was passionate about the field of criminal justice, her role was in the classroom, working with young people to provide opportunities and possibilities outside of crime.
After graduation, Louise joined Teach for America and was assigned to teach in Las Vegas, which was just as shocking of a location to her as it was to her family! Louise remained there for four years, teaching and coaching other educators in two Title I public elementary schools. During her time in Las Vegas, Louise was selected to be a part of the Teacher Leader Academy, an innovative professional development program designed for educators in the state of Nevada, and she earned her Master of Education degree from University of Nevada – Las Vegas.
Due to a desire to live closer to her family, Louise moved to Colorado in 2017 and began teaching English as a Second Language and 7th Grade English Language Arts at a charter school in Southwest Denver. There, she organized the school’s first talent show and coached the girls’ basketball team. Louise then transferred to a Title I public middle school in an administrative capacity to teach 8th Grade English Language Arts for half the day and coach colleagues for the other half. That school year was interrupted, however, with the Covid-19 pandemic shutting school doors in March of 2020.
Knowing she wanted a change after the 2019-2020 school year, Louise left in-person education and began working for an online education company. In her new role as teacher tutor, Louise worked with small groups of students in a virtual setting, continuing to share her love for learning, books, and knowledge with young people. Louise then transitioned into the roles of mentor teacher, content creator, and professional development creator and facilitator.
During her last few months working in virtual education, Louise discovered a small, independent children’s bookstore in Niwot, CO that was hiring. Safe to say she jumped at the opportunity to work in a small-town bookstore! Louise then transitioned to working at The Wandering Jellyfish Bookshop as a bookseller and events coordinator, enabling her to continue working with educators and students and to build relationships with local authors and illustrators.
With the closure of The Wandering Jellyfish Bookshop in December 2023, Louise knew she wanted to remain in the literary space while continuing to connect educators, authors, artists, and readers. In her time at The Wandering Jellyfish Bookshop, Louise formed relationships with local authors and illustrators in the promotion of their work at school and library events and gained an appreciation of the need for greater representation of authors and illustrators nationwide in booking events, specifically in schools. Thus, The Booking Tree was founded three months later.
Most of the time, Louise can be found working at her antique writing desk with her English Bulldog snoring next to her, walking on the trails around her home, spending time with her husband and loved ones, and reading her way through the never-ending TBR pile of books on her living room side table.