This library’s design is no longer by the books

Tabletops are now completed with whiteboard paint so students can work on collaborative projects or let their creativity flow, like Sierra Weeks chose to do.

Libraries aren’t just for books any more. 

Kaye McKinney, media specialist at R-S Central High School, realized that following the implementation of the one-to-one learning environment where each student uses a MacBook during the school year, that circulation in the library had dropped. So she put on her thinking cap to figure out a way to redesign the library to make it relevant to a new generation of students. 

McKinney applied for the Governor’s Teacher’s Network, an initiative funded by the state’s Race to the Top grant. The network provides a statewide platform for teachers to share their best work with other teachers. Once accepted, McKinney chose the professional development pathway. As part of this pathway, McKinney had to choose a project that would address needs in the classroom, school or system level, and the network provided a stipend to complete it. Redesigning the library was a perfect fit for a project. 

“I have a media technology advisory committee and talked over my plans for the library,” she said. Those plans included creating a space where students could sit with their laptops and doing away with the way books had been arranged on the shelves for years. 

The project is one that the entire student body has come together to make a reality. Art students at the school are painting murals on formerly blank walls. Electrical trade students ran wiring along the back wall so that outlets could be placed for laptop charging. Agricultural students trimmed the legs on tables to lower them. 

“We’ve had a lot of ownership in this with the kids,” McKinney said. 

The main part of the library isn’t the only area that’s gotten a face lift. A room in the back that once was home to a school news station is being set up as a green screen room, McKinney said. 

“Once it’s set up, students will be able to come in a film new broadcasts, weather reports or a video on any topic,” she explained. 

Prior to the renovations, McKinney had students complete a survey of library usage. The survey will be done again once renovations are finished. 

“My findings will become part of a wiki for other teachers to use, and they will have access to the plans I used for the project,” McKinney said. 

McKinney will present the project at either the district or regional level as well. A grand closing to the project will include a book fair with Barnes & Noble.