William H.

Farquhar Middle School

To: Architect John Smith Smith Architecture From: Alexandra Moses Re: Renovations to William H. Farquhar Middle School Media Center Sept. 27, 2012 Dear Mr. Smith, The Farquhar Middle School media center is slated for renovation in 2013, and as the student population will double, several key accommodations must be made to ensure the media center is a hub of 21st century learning. The points to consider in the design involve maintaining openness, adjusting and adding shelving, increasing mobility, expanding for technology, and creating a professional space. Each of these points is addressed in more detail below: Maintain openness. Keep the current, open design. The library space has an excellent flow, with few obstacles. Our students who rely on wheelchairs have room to move without bumping into furniture. The space is also free of blind spots. As Bishop and Cahill note, one of the most critical factors to consider in the layout of a library is to make certain that students can be supervised from one single spot.i This layout is conducive to effective classroom management as students can be seen no matter where they are and behavioral problems can be quickly identified. Adjust and expand shelving. The current shelves exceed the recommended 75% to 85% capacity necessary for students to easily locate books for reference and to make the collection more appealing for browsing.ii The overcrowding is due to the current physical space constraints; there are 15,000 books in a roughly 1,200-square-foot spaceiii. It also causes us to split and limit our fiction collection, and students looking in the series books often have trouble finding what they need.iv The shelves are too tall, and students cannot reach the top. To effectively promote reading for pleasure and encourage independent learning, materials must be accessible to students, and that includes physically and organizationally accessible.v Please install shorter shelves along the back wall for our non-fiction books, with display boards above them so I may more clearly mark the sections for visually impaired students and those who require more explicit directions to find materials.vi Please also add several mobile units that can hold books on both sides. One section of these units will hold reference materials and another, larger section, will hold an expanded fiction collection. Create mobile spaces. These new mobile shelves will serve as room dividers to break up the space into areas for leisure reading, instruction, small group work, and personal technology use, without causing blind spots. It is essential to give students a space that enhances and encourages technology use, leisure reading and browsing, and use of materials in all formats. vii The reference shelves should be situated to create a small room, with a new, separate computer terminal strictly for database searching, and one, four- to five-seat table for small group work. The reference section should remain where it is, next to the circulation desk, so students can easily get help from the media specialist or assistant. The fiction shelves should be placed on the opposite side of the room (keeping the current configuration) to form a quiet space for reading, with new, larger chairs and a sofa table arranged so that students may also do group work in this area. Currently, we only have a small sofa wedged between the computer area and the shelves, and students cannot be social in this space. We accommodate four classes in the media center per day, plus groups of students who come in during lunch and free periods. About 80 students come in every morning before school.

William H. Farquhar Middle School

A flexible configuration gives students opportunities for small group discussions and encourages collaboration and communication with peers, essential 21st century skills that the media center is uniquely positioned to encourage.viii The smaller spaces also will give high-needs classes a more intimate place in which to work. Our low-level readers and special education students often require distraction-free, one-on-one attention that currently is not accommodated. These mobile shelves may be shifted to open the space for meetings and larger classes. This supports a curricular need, as two classes covering the same unit often request to come to the media center together, which requires a seating need of up to 60 in the combined classes. The teachers and media specialist can better monitor and help the students if they can all sit at tables in the same section of the library. Currently, there is seating for 44 students at 11 round tables all bunched together in the center of the room, and overflow must take place at the computer terminals. This limits access for students and staff that arent part of the instruction. Flexible space provides the most equitable access to the library.ix Upgrade technology. We may get a grant for 50 iPads or eReaders any day now, and the current structure of the media center assumes that the only technology worth using are bulky desktops on built-in workstations. I want outlets embedded in the floor and placed in group work areas. While our acceptable use policy does not allow cell phones or personal devices, this may someday change, and our media center must be ready. x The desktops must stay for now, but I want to see the terminals separated from the instructional area so that students and teachers feel free to use the library without fear of disturbing the instruction. In the fiction small group area that will be created using the mobile shelves, I want an audiobook station, with outlets to allow students to enjoy an audiobook while they are in the space. Add professional space. The media center office must be renovated to include a larger, more visible area for the professional library. Current limitations on space place these materials in the back of the office, and they are severely underused. Shelves should be placed next to the office door so that teachers can take advantage of the curricular support materials in the librarys collection. Collaboration is a central part of the teaching philosophy at Farquhar, but not always at the highest levels. Offering a more visible professional library, and the flexible space to host teacher training in the library, will promote the deeper collaboration that leads to higher student achievement. Farquhar Middle School is a place where students, staff, and parents are valued as partners to creating an academically rigorous environment. The mission of the media center is to meet the teachers instructional needs to create students who excel at and love learning. Collaboration is valued at Farquhar, and the media center must be a space in which collaboration is made simple. With these suggested changes, the media center will become a true learning commons. Sincerely, Alexandra Moses

William H. Farquhar Middle School

Endnotes
i

Bishop, K., & Cahall, J. (2012). Positive Classroom Management Skills for School Librarians. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Libraries Unlimited.

ii

Vnuk, R. (February 15, 2012). Weeding tips: The basics. Booklist. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/Weeding-Tips-The-Basics-Rebecca-Vnuk/pid=5346510)
iii iv v

M. Ladd. October 4, 2012. Personal communication. M. Ladd. September 21, 2012. Personal communication. American Association of School Librarians. (2009). Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs. Chicago: AASL. Blue, E. V., & Pace, D. (2011). UD and UDL: Paving the way toward inclusion and independence in the school library. Knowledge Quest, 39(3), 4855. American Association of School Librarians. p. 33. Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (Sept. 26, 2012). Communication and collaboration. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/overview/skills-framework/261

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American Association of School Librarians. (2009). Sullivan, M. (2011). Divine Design. School Library Journal, 56(4), 2632.