Evolving a library that was built in the year 1909 and redesigned in 1985 has its challenges. The space was never envisioned to support a student population of 650 students, the walls were built under old standards, making it a challenge to equip the space with new technology, and the space itself feels old with bland colors. Knowing all this, and knowing that the entire staff is keen on seeing the library transform into a learning commons, I asked 6 staff members and 4 students (children of fellow staff members) to answer a few questions that might help guide the change we hope to see.
Obviously change doesn’t come without its own set of challenges and obstacles, and money, resources and time are all key factors that any TL needs to face, but with the help of the learning community and by taking small steps, the changes we dream about, can become a reality.
I set up a Survey Monkey that could easily be shared with my colleagues but I conducted the survey in person with the four students who don’t have their own email accounts. I have a good relationship with these students and felt that they were able to answer my questions honestly and completely.
There were two key trends that came from all the answers collected, teachers and students alike.
An unflexible environment means not all users are satisfied. While some users want to participate in collaborative opportunities and group work, others want to use the library as a calm and quiet space to read or study independently.
Having no system for technology use means students often cannot access what they want or need. There is limited access to the main technology and no access to “fun” technology so students are not able to explore what could be available to them. Often the laptops and iPads are busy, there is no color printer, and often the “fun” technology presented to them by teachers and the TL cannot be accessed by students at a later time.
These two problems are ones that we can and should address in our school, because they allow for more personalized learning experiences for our students to participate in meaningful and relevant tasks, whether it is reading a book for pleasure, or prototyping a robot for a bot-war.
I decided to take these to problems to my collaborative teaching partner for further reflection since we are both on the library committee working towards the learning commons model. After our discussion and a visit to the public library which has recently been rebuilt into a flexible and functional space for all users, I came up with two Design Challenges that I look forward to sharing with my fellow library committee members.
We need to create a flexible space that allows for students and teachers to work/read quietly, while still having opportunities for groups and classes to collaborate and design to support all our community members.
We need to develop a system that supports and promotes student access to the technology they need or want to explore so they can empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test their designs for more personalized learning experiences.
With the support of our PAC and administration, I believe that these changes will be very successful to support the redesign of our library. We will need to have clear and explicit goals and the users will need to be given opportunities to provide feedback to ensure the changes are meeting their needs.
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