Spinnin' Right Round

"You spin me right round baby right round......"

So today my head is spinning with possibilities about ideal libraries set in stark contrast to the real library that I have to work with. One of my classmates, Mary Fobbsguillory in her blog post "The School Library of My Dreams" says that her ideal library "would look like a 50/50 mixture of Disneyland and academic library" (Fobbsguillory, 2017). Another of my classmates, Anne Tignanelli's thematic library sends students on thematic journey reminiscent of Mr. Lemoncello's (Tignanelli, 2017) (Grabenstein, 2013).

Yesterday it rained, and I try so hard not to go into school in the summer unless it is raining. In the midst of my reading and thinking for my ideal library, I walked into the library that will become mine. Blue-green carpet, heavy blue-green chairs, giant blue-green tables, walls covered with old fading posters-- you know you are not in Disneyland. In a word, blah! 

One thing I have been so proud of as I have read about different libraries is how progressive ours seems. We have a lot of collaboration, teachers are sometimes frustrated by not being able to make it on to the schedule, our collection is strong, and all in all if something had to be lacking, the beauty of our space would be preferable to having an under-used space. But reading Sue Stidham's "If Kids Designed School Libraries: The Top 10 List + Wild Things" made me realize that it IS important. 

What can I do? 

One thing I did today was to text the art teacher and ask her if I can display student art work. That's a step, but it doesn't address the lack of flexibility my furniture gives. 

Another thing I did was read Diana Redina's "How to Transform your Library Space on a Budget" (Redina, 2015) Some takes aways from that are to get rid of things you don't need to make room for those you want, befriend the person in your district who is in charge where the furniture is warehoused and keep dreaming! 

The library that I am inheriting is in good shape. There is a strong collection and a school culture of collaboration. In 2020 we will be in a new school with a new library. In the meantime, I can make small inexpensive hopefully high-impact changes to our space. 

References 

Fobbsguillory, Mary.(2017.) The school library of my dreams. Discussion. Retrieved from https://sjsu.instructure.com/courses/1237629/discussion_topics/3237567

Grabenstein, C. (2013). Escape from Mr. Lemoncellos library. New York: Yearling Books. 

Redina, Diana. (2015). "How to Transform your Library Space on a Budget". Knowledge Quest Journal of the American Association of School Librarians. Retrieved from: http://knowledgequest.aasl.org/transform-library-space-budget/ 

Stidham, Sue. (2010). If Kids Designed School Libraries: The Top 10 List + Wild Things. LMC, 29(1), 22

Tignanelli, Anne.(2017) Ideal Library. Discussion. Retrieved from: https://sjsu.instructure.com/courses/1237629/discussion_topics/3237567

image 1 retrieved from: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/cd/95/50/cd955054ba0c68e7b294f0681c50c13c--cool-school-new-school-year.jpg

image 2 retrieved from: https://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/0915-designJ.jpg