Yes, we are open! Come on in!

There have been so many great comments in this lesson.  It is so interesting to see how many of us are living in old and dated environments but that we all have a vision of how great it could be.  I am inspired by those in the class who have open spaces or have done some renovations.  We had our seismic upgrade 4 years ago, before I was the TL, and unfortunately our school did not take advantage of the opportunity for the library other than painting all the walls some type of off-white - oh, and they broke the circulation desk in half to move it and then never fixed it - don't even get me started.

If you look closely under the entry form box you can see the crack in the circulation desk.

One of the things I decided when I began as TL in September, was that I needed to "live in the space" for a year before I got too carried away.  I did make some simple cosmetic changes - removed the broken and bulky alarm system at the door, removed a bookshelf and filing cabinet that blocked the entrance, and rearranged the tables and chairs.  I also removed the frosted Mactac that covered the windows into the hallways of our school - apparently the previous librarian didn't like students looking into the library...? 

Entrance last year

Slowly, as I have become more comfortable in the space I have been able to make changes.  Our PAC gave me money for a reading area so we now have 4 club chairs, a rug, and a small table.  (By the way, adding a rug sure made me unpopular with the custodians.) I have also begun the huge task of weeding the non-fiction section (over 1500 titles so far) with the hope that I can completely remove one of the non-fiction shelving units to create more space and better access.

New reading area.

The signage in my library is also an embarrassment.  I too laughed at the comment in our lesson reading by Julie Winkelstein - "Many were computer-generated and taped with wrinkled yet indestructible clear packing tape. This reminded me of an architect I interviewed about signs. "We have to take control," he told me, "or the librarians will just print a bunch of signs out on the computer and tape them all over the place." (Winkelstein, 2005)  So true!  My library has very little signage - just some TAPED Dewey numbers at the ends of the non-fiction shelves - no words or categories to help students with their searches.  I have added some signs for Fiction, Graphic Fiction, and Biography.  In my Assignment 3 plan I explained how I would really like to have signage similar to a grocery store indicating what can be found in each section or aisle.  I have a die cut machine called a Cricut so I know I can do this fairly inexpensively, and I can also then change the signs as needed.  This is one of my summer project plans.

The other area that I think will have the largest impact in improving the access to my library is making it feel more inviting with some colour.  My PAC gave me more money (apparently no one else was asking this year, or they just felt sorry for me, LOL) to purchase a poster series for the walls.  I am also going to be working with our art teacher next year to add a rotating gallery of student art.  Another idea I had is to do a workshop at one of our district pro-d events and have staff in our district create canvases from discarded books, quotations, etc., that I could then hang in the library.

There are so many ways to improve the access to my library but the most important thing is that the students and staff feel welcome, despite the decor.  I purchased a round kitchen table from a local Facebook buy/sell/swap site for $50 and that table has done more for the access to my library than any of the other changes.  It sits right as people enter the library and we use it for a monthly display. The books fly off this table!  For March, because of a 2 week spring break and the job action, I did a quick "Reading green books will bring you luck" display.  I literally went around and grabbed every green book - fiction and non-fiction - and put them on the table with some shamrocks and a green table cloth - voila!  It grabs the attention of people walking down the hall and the students take books out that they may not have noticed before.

December display

March display

I am excited to continue with the development of my library.  I think there needs to be some change every year to keep it fresh and feeling different, or like things are evolving.  Improving access in our physical space, and also in our virtual space through the development of a digital library, online access to our OPAC, and regular maintenance of our web site, will all make this a reality.


References:

Winkelstein, J. (2005). BackTalk: What's your sign? Library Journal.  Retrieved
       from http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6727991