Form & Function: Library Facility DesignThe school that is taking on a major re-design of its library is doing something bold and exciting, indeed. But whether they are gutting the building or just rearranging the furniture to promote 21st century learning, educators can benefit from the vision and research expressed by those who have engaged in this undertaking already, including Taipei American School where I served during the last stages of its library re-design. T.D. Webb's Building Libraries for the 21st Century and Australia's Department of Education are also valued resources.
Learners, and how they are using resources and collaborating on projects today is at the center of thoughts on library design. A library provides small rooms, creativity spaces, work areas for staff, office space, and presentation spaces. It should take into account computing needs, the needs of handicapped patrons, and it might attract visitors by its central location, possibly near (but not encompassing) the coffee/snacks shack in order to take advantage of traffic of students who have found unstructured time in their schedule to practice independent learning... and to express that the library also provides vital nourishment. But it's not merely a hang-outServing a different need
While it's attractive, inviting and student-friendly, the library is an expression of the school's commitment to scholarship. And (as discussed previously) it protects and displays cultural heritage in its stacks. It is the school's vital place for productive study and learning (and that means it provides quiet spaces.) Its role should not be confused with that of a "commons" or coffee shop; it is not merely a hang-out.
The 21st century library needs to be large enough to accommodate multiple classes at once, with a teaching space for the Teacher-Librarian that offers a sound system, LCD projector, and screen. Ideally this presentation space is situated where the noise of the Teacher-Librarian's instruction does not interfere with the study of other drop-in users of the library (and vice-versa.) The staff at the circulation desk (next to the library's front door) needs to be able to monitor the full extent of the facility. Where possible, it helps if students' computer screens generally face in that direction. A colleague taught me that if noise levels are an issue, arranging computers around the perimeter of the library can reduce noise that computer users generate in collaboration. It also enables the faculty to provide supervision of the uses kids are putting their connectivity to, if that's warranted. The library needs a very large numbers of electrical outlets to support computing. In fact, many modern libraries have been built with a big investment in special flooring that is elevated just above a huge and adaptable wiring system. That way outlets can be reconfigured to meet the evolving furniture arrangements of a library. Lacking special flooring or lots of outlets, you need “octopuses” (8-outlet extension cord systems) into which many students can plug in their computers for recharging. Know where the circuit breaker is, too. An inspiring diagram and design checklist for the 21st century library is provided by Australia's Department of Education. It is both creative and practical in the way it addresses the concerns of the faculty and staff who work in a library: storage, workroom space, signage, mobility of furniture in order to provide for the many uses of library space: it even provides view-lines for student supervision. The staff frequently need a sink for clean-up. It also addresses our particular area of pedagogy as we try to promote effective strategies for research and also reading in a world that is increasingly visual and impatient. The reference books need to be prominently displayed, since we teach students to use them as a first step in their inquiry projects. And through research, we Teacher-Librarians learned that outward facing books and magazines get picked up more often. We are seeing the value of non-traditional arrangements of materials. As we respect individuality and serve patrons with diverse interests in our learning community, we can adopt some of the strategies of commercial book stores have with the way they "market" literature. I enjoyed working in a middle school library where, just like at Barnes and Noble, we arranged the fiction collection in 10 areas-- providing a separate browsing area for each of ten genres. This means that student find all of the mystery books together on the same shelves. Science Fiction is located on another set of shelves, and historical fiction in a third location... (rather than putting the whole fiction collection in one section, in alphabetical order by author.) With a color-coding system, this improved students' chances of finding a book that suited their tastes (or the requirement of teachers to sample many genres.) It's quite an undertaking to reorganize, label and catalog the library's collection in this way and to help students and faculty learn how to locate the books that might fit in multiple genres. But folks do learn the new system relatively quickly since Language Arts programs usually focus on an introduction to and exploration of various book genres. Also, there's a way to set up the catalog to assist patrons to locate a book whose genre is not known to them. I think it's a great idea for libraries serving middle and upper school students. Promoting scholarship and community
The library needs to invite students in for study and resource use by being a bright and attractive place where kids can collaborate quietly and productively, and also where they can see their peers' exemplary and inspiring work. I like to have lots of bulletin board space for displaying student work, and shelves that can showcase students' artwork or multidimensional research projects. I also have enjoyed having multiple TV monitors that can be used for looping instructional PowerPoint slide shows, images of students' projects, cable news, and the in-house video productions the celebrate our students' concerts and other presentations. The library celebrates scholarship as well as community.
Having sufficient computers (even in a laptop school) ensures that the Teacher-Librarian can set up learning kiosks without co-opting the computers that need to be dedicated to OPAC (online public access catalog) searching. The library is where visitors to the school drop in to catch up on e-mailing, so if there aren't computers on desktops, then there should be a few laptops that can be loaned from the circulation desk. (The good news is that in a laptop school, these computers can be the ones that are a step away from being discarded because they are nearly obsolete.) Tables and seating need to provide enough space for backpacks, books AND laptops... and proximity to outlets in order to avoid tripping and falling over power cords. The staff at the circulation desk should be able to sign out laptops and/or headphones for listening to media. And in order to accommodate students' comfort and style for researching, it's good to have soft furniture, and a lot of pillows for kids who like to spread out on the floor. While modeling “green” behavior, the library should also provide (quiet) printing, photocopying, scanning and paper-cutting equipment. The librarian is a sweetheart if she can loan pencils, pens, scissors, paper and scrap paper to learners in need. A good library has effective “signage” from ceilings and on shelves, and a good librarian knows a thing or two about how fonts, color contrasts, not using all-caps (the brain processes all-caps more slowly than the text you're reading now.) We serve younger learners who might still be learning the importance of alphabetical order or Dewey's decimal system by putting arrows on the floor that demonstrate the sequence and flow of materials in a large collection. Color coding the various parts of a collection makes the pattern of organization easier to learn. Additionally, the Teacher-Librarian has provided flip-chart guides at strategic locations to provide step-by-step scaffolding instruction for information seeking tasks (for example, by the catalog for book searching, by computers for accessing online databases, by the USB ports for virus-scanning students' thumb drives.) It's true that the Teacher-Librarian needs to be mobile with her laptop or tablet since she teaches and works “all around the space"-- teaching classes, PD workshops, modeling searches to students, and roaming the collection for inventory and book list building. But the location of her desk should not be in an office cut off from her patrons. Rather, she needs to work at a desk that is visible and accessible to the students who need her help, positioned to provide supervision of the facility and communication with the staff, while also connected to space that supports collaborative meetings with colleagues. The Teacher-Librarian also works hard to facilitate the cataloging, acquisition and availability of the professional collection (which should probably be housed in the library that the students use and not in a curriculum office that is not equipped with computers for check-outs.) If the professional collection is in the students' library, a space for teachers to enjoy privacy (set aside from the students and offices) is very valuable. Teachers want that to be protected as a quiet space, so it should not host meetings. But the Teacher-Librarian is close at hand to assist patrons with that collection, too. I've worked in multiple libraries to organize professional resources and help orient new and long-serving teachers to the materials available to enhance their success in the classroom. My awareness of curricular initiatives and educational trends have ensured that I could make relevant and informed decisions about acquisitions, and supply timely recommendations to teachers, whether it be for graduate coursework they were taking, curriculum documentation or lesson delivery. |
Funding the Library Project
Sho me da money
Generating ideas, funds, commitment and ownership over a new facility project requires strategic planning with an emphasis on proactivity, communication and learning needs. The Teacher-Librarian must pull in parents, School Board members, administrators, technology specialists, students and faculty for a needs assessment and to dialogue about goals and dreams in order to provide the architect the input needed. She updates the stakeholders continually, honors donors in a variety of fashions (spotlighting them at public events, the web site and/or naming rooms for them, for example.)
The Teacher-Librarian continually uses newsletters and the school web site to sustain enthusiasm for the effort, always connecting the project to learning purposes. These efforts self-consciously educate the community on 21st century learning strategies and resources. I love how St. Anne's-Belfield in Charlottesville, Virginia and American School of Budapest provided their communities a step-by-step visualization of their major building projects. This communication piece is a great project to put into the hands of students who are studying film/videography, web-based applications, and how to produce effective visuals for a campaign. With the guidance of the Teacher-Librarian, they can effectively marry text to that imagery to continually reinforce the learner-centered goals for the building project (and develop students' information literacy skills, too.) |