library SOS

[Tracy Richards]

Hi everyone,

My school next year is reconfigured from a gr7-9 to a gr 8-12. There are renovations planned for all over the school, but not the library. In fact, when the principal toured the library he mentioned he would like to see the book stacks go to make the area more 'open'.

My plan is expand the library, have extra seating, have comfy seating for those wanting to read, etc...

Does anyone have pictures of what their library looks like to show him?

Thanks
Tracy Richards

[Renee Rowcliffe]

Wow. That's interesting. There aren't any plans to add materials to meet the needs of 10-12th grades? I don't know how large your collection is or anything, but the first thing I would do is to make sure it is well weeded, and then I would use a 10 books for every student guideline as the size for the collection. I'd say you need to have enough seating for 10% of the student body. Those are baseline numbers, as far as I'm concerned. I'd take a look at one of the many lists of opening day collections and compare what I have for that age level student with what they say is appropriate. I like Wilson's publications. After that, I would take a tour of area libraries serving 8-12th graders and see what they have and what they wished they had done differently. Then I'd make a plan and write a formal proposal to the administrator. . . . . I'd be happy to send pictures of my 9-12 library, but I don't think it is what either you or your administrator is wanting (although I'm pretty proud of it!) Best wishes in your restructuring journey.
Renee

[guybrarian]

Renee- Send pictures I'd love to see them too! I don't have any pictures - but will try to take some Monday!

[guybrarian]

Tracy -
We transitioned from a 6-12 school to only a 9-12 school a few years ago. We got $40K from the district to beef up our collection and be ready for Sr Hi. Renee has good suggestions here but I'll add my two cents.

Our student population is 1045 and I collaborate with the teachers a ton. We can accommodate 2 classrooms in the library at the same time. That way- when I'm teaching one class, another can be in the library too (which happens a lot) We also have 12 computers with an adjacent lab so have lots of flexibility. I have a full time clerk who is an extremely hard worker- so when I'm collaborating (about 70% of my time) things can happen in the library too.

We do have a comfy area near our magazines - I'll try to send pics. Thanks for the question!

[Tracy Richards]

Thanks. I would love to see pictures.

My school is getting textbooks paid for by the district, but no extra 'beefing' up $ so far.

Tracy