Dewey decimal what? Local school districts transition libraries into digital media centers
The space was bright and modern, filled with funky modular furniture and flat screen TVs, but it was the exercise bikes, two pieces of sleek gym equipment set against a stack of bookshelves, that stuck out.
鈥淚t蘑菇视频 like a desk,鈥� said Brandon Robinson, superintendent at Jefferson-Morgan School District, gesturing to the FitDesk. 鈥淵ou can put books on it.鈥�
Do teens actually ride the stationary bikes inside the Learning Commons, a large space lined with books, an homage to its former life as the school蘑菇视频 library?
Wesley Loring, the high school principal, nodded enthusiastically.
鈥淜ids, during lunchtime, will jump on there,鈥� he said.
Jefferson-Morgan began renovating its library, affectionately called The LC, before the pandemic, and this is the first year the space is being fully utilized as intended: an open area in which students study, socialize and grow. The transition from traditional library to a digital media center with flat screen TVs and stock market tickers is part of a nationwide trend to modernize education and make learning more accessible.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-ReporterModular furniture is trending at local schools, including Jefferson-Morgan, where tables can fit together like puzzle pieces for larger gatherings, like debates or small speaker events. The district holds school board meetings inside the updated, multipurpose Learning Commons.
鈥淲e get a chance to change what education looks like, and what educational spaces look like. We鈥檝e had a focus on really improving our educational spaces, making them look more modern. Lots of times kids, they鈥檙e coming here, they play chess, or they play different games. They want these kinds of spaces,鈥� Robinson said.
The space serves as a larger classroom, when teachers need one. It蘑菇视频 also a place where students come to take virtual classes, including collegiate courses, and study. Students socialize and play games in the LC; clubs host small speaker events; the district holds school board meetings; and some even still check out books when social studies teacher Donald Cochran, also a librarian, mans the circulation desk.
鈥淲e still have books to be checked out, if they want, just because we don鈥檛 have a local library,鈥� Robinson said.
鈥淲e have inner-loan, too, so if anybody wants anything from the other libraries, they can get it shopped here,鈥� Cochran added. 鈥淵ou can get it anywhere in Pennsylvania.鈥�
Robinson said the Learning Commons allows students more freedom, and he has witnessed the importance of the space in academic and personal development and growth post-COVID. Since renovating the learning center, the former library has gone from welcoming 20 students a day to more than 20 per class period, Robinson said.
鈥淲e never close the Learning Commons. 鈥� You need a mental health break? Come down here, have your headphones in, take 10 to 15 minutes before you go to your next class,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just trying to make more of, for our high school especially, of a college-style feel where it蘑菇视频 not, you鈥檙e in this class for 40 minutes, to go to the next class for 40 minutes, and it蘑菇视频 just that rat race.鈥�
At nearby Southeastern Greene School District, the high school library retains its bookish charm, but superintendent Dr. Richard Pekar said there are perks 鈥� literally 鈥� to visiting the space.
鈥淲e have a coffee shop in the mornings, in the library. We do get 30 or 40 kids. We鈥檝e got people hanging out in there, checking out books during that time,鈥� Pekar said.
Recently, the library updated its books and technology offerings to appeal to a new generation of high schoolers.
鈥淚 think there蘑菇视频 still value in kids checking out books,鈥� Pekar said, but, 鈥渢he convenience of the online books is fantastic.鈥�
SGSD蘑菇视频 library is still used for research and as a classroom teachers bring students to when they need to spread out to work on larger projects. Pekar hopes to slowly update the space, though, and make it more accessible to students.
鈥淭oday蘑菇视频 libraries have changed so much. 鈥楳edia center,鈥� really, is even an old term. Libraries have become more of a college-type student hall, where schools are trying to attract kids to come in 鈥� and incorporating different forms of technology, and trying to draw kids in to utilize those spaces,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have talked about trying to turn it into a hub of their school.鈥�
A hub like the Carmichaels Area Junior/Senior High School Library, one of the first local districts to transition from library to student union, which Pekar has toured.
About five years ago, Carmichaels turned its library into an educational hangout complete with an esports arena and coffee shop.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have a choice,鈥� said Cassie Menhart, librarian/media specialist and esports coach, of the upgrade. 鈥淚f the library doesn鈥檛 evolve with the, I don鈥檛 know if it蘑菇视频 the wants or needs of the students, but I think that蘑菇视频 why libraries have shut down. They鈥檙e not offering something, or enough, to keep the whole school interested.鈥�
There are high top tables at the coffee shop, which sells freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies to fund Menhart蘑菇视频 book club and the district蘑菇视频 esports team and a massage chair and gumball machine, utilized by entrepreneurship classes to teach passive income.
Menhart purchased three exercise bikes and treadmill with a grant, and students, usually middle schoolers, will often open a book or listen to an audiobook while using them, she said.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-ReporterExercise bikes and a treadmill are popular with younger students, who read or listen to audiobooks during the day. The equipment is situated near the CASD alumni entrepreneurs wall: those alum who visit Menhart蘑菇视频 entrepreneurship class and come bearing a t-shirt are featured on the Learning Center wall.
Students often play chess in the Learning Center, which also houses flight simulators, thanks to an alumni donation.
One can still check out a book from the Learning Center, and classes do meet there; it蘑菇视频, essentially, a massive, multipurpose classroom and hang out center for students and teachers.
For Menhart, drawing students into the underutilized library was a goal as the district underwent junior/high school library renovations.
鈥淭here蘑菇视频 something in here for everyone. If it蘑菇视频 not books, it could be flying, it could be the stock market, it could be esports, it could be hanging out with your friends for lunch,鈥� Menhart said. 鈥淲hen I was building this, I wanted it to feel like a student union, like when you go to college. I want this to be a place they want to come. And it is.鈥�
While some local districts already offer a less conventional space in which students learn and socialize, others are just beginning their library transformations. Bethlehem-Center School District is working to secure grants to transform its junior/senior high school library into an inviting learning hub.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 have a ton in our library that was being used, so we are hoping to be able to provide our students with more digital resources, so that they can tap into any number of reading materials, any subject that they could possibly want, through an online database. That蘑菇视频 the direction that we, as a society, are moving toward,鈥� said Dr. Betsy D鈥橢midio, director of curriculum, instruction and student services. 鈥淥ur hope is to create a digital learning center that will house STEM equipment, and it can be used for 21st century learning.鈥�
D鈥橢midio and Superintendent Donald MacFann both oversaw a similar transition at East Allegheny School DIstrict. D鈥橢midio has secured grants from community organizations, and with that funding Bethlehem-Center will purchase 3D printers and a heat press, a vinyl cutter and a garment printer, a robotics kit and a hydroponic garden, and AR/VR goggles.
The district recently cleared out the former library and is planning a makeover, including new modular furniture, which can be configured several different ways to facilitate learning, before moving in the technology.
Courtesy of Betsy D鈥橢midio
鈥淭echnology is just crazy, it蘑菇视频 exploding. It蘑菇视频 strange, because we are preparing kids for jobs that don鈥檛 yet exist. What we have to do is prepare them with the basic knowledge they would need to be able to learn other skills,鈥� D鈥橢midio said, noting Beth-Center worked with Carnegie Mellon University to determine what technology and programs will best support the district蘑菇视频 students.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just trying to get up to speed so that when they graduate high school, they can step into a job in the 21st century workforce or they can move on for additional training in some sort of technology field.鈥�