Dewey decimal what? Local school districts transition libraries into digital media centers
The space is bright and modern, filled with funky modular furniture and flat screen TVs, but it’s the exercise bikes, two pieces of sleek gym equipment set against a stack of bookshelves, that catches the eye.
“It’s like a desk,” said Brandon Robinson, superintendent at Jefferson-Morgan School District, gesturing to the FitDesk. “You can put books on it.”
Asked if teens actually ride the stationary bikes inside the Learning Commons, a large space lined in books, an homage to its former life as the school’s library, and filled with couches and booths, high school principal Wesley Loring nodded enthusiastically.
“Kids, during lunchtime, will jump on there,” he said.
Jefferson-Morgan began renovating its library, now 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 that boasts flat screen TVs and stock market tickers is part of a nationwide trend to modernize education and make learning more accessible.
“We’ve had a focus on really improving our educational spaces, making them look more modern. We could be having Driver’s Ed going on, we could be having kids taking college classes. Lots of times kids, they’re coming here, they play chess or they play different games,” Robinson said, noting much of the space’s transition was made possible through grants and thrifty shopping. “They want these kinds of spaces. We get a chance to change what education looks like, and what educational spaces look like.”
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-ReporterSophia Pox, a high school sophomore, finishes drivers ed online inside the Jefferson-Morgan Learning Commons, where other students studied and hung out as she took notes on a recent weekday. The Learning Commons is always staffed by a district teacher and serves as a classroom, hangout and library for middle and high schoolers.
Teachers book the Learning Commons when they need a larger classroom. Students meet to socialize or fly solo in the LC, where they take virtual classes, including collegiate courses, at the high tops or on the couches. Clubs host small speaker events in the Learning Commons, and some even get old school and drop by the LC to check out books.
Social studies teacher Donald Cochran is also a certified librarian, and students know when he’s manning the desk, which will soon be a coffee shop run by Life Skills students, two periods a day, they’re able to rent library materials.
“We still have books to be checked out, if they want, just because we don’t have a local library,” Robinson said.
“We have inter-loan, too, so if anybody wants anything from the other libraries, they can get it shopped here,” Cochran added. “You can get it anywhere in Pennsylvania.”
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.
Robinson said the Learning Commons allows students more freedom, and he sees the value in the space, especially 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.
At nearby Southeastern Greene School District, the high school library retains its bookish charm, but Superintendent Dr. Richard Pekar said there are perks – literally – to visiting the space.
“We have a coffee shop in the mornings, in the library. We do get 30 or 40 kids. We’ve got people hanging out in there, checking out books during that time,” Pekar said.
Recently, the library updated its books and technology offerings to appeal to a new generation of high schoolers.
“I think there’s still value in kids checking out books,” Pekar said, but “the convenience of the online books is fantastic.”
SGSD’s 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 his students.
“Today’s libraries have changed so much. ‘Media center,’ 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 … and incorporating different forms of technology, and trying to draw kids in to utilize those spaces,” he said. “We have talked about trying to turn it into a hub of their school.”
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 started emptying its library of books and stacks and turning it into an educational hangout complete with an esports arena and coffee shop.
“You don’t have a choice,” said Cassie Menhart, librarian/media specialist and esports coach, of the upgrade. “If the library doesn’t evolve with the, I don’t know if it’s the wants or needs of the students, but I think that’s why libraries have shut down. They’re not offering something, or enough, to keep the whole school interested. We almost have something for everyone in here.”
The transformation from library to Lavins Learning Center is possible through alumni donations – the center is named after a Carmichaels couple who provide student scholarships annually, too – and grant funding, Menhart said.
She purchased the three exercise bikes and treadmill with a Green and Healthy Grant, and students, usually middle schoolers, will often open a book or listen to an audiobook while pedaling or step-stepping, Menhart 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’s entrepreneurship class and come bearing a t-shirt are featured on the Learning Center wall.
When the bell rang on a recent weekday, a group of students cleaned up their coffee and cookies, slung backpacks over their shoulders and headed to the next period while a group of boys rushed to claim spots on the couch at the casual gaming area and started a friendly game of Madden. On the other side of the room, a small group of girls opened their laptops at a high-top table and middle schoolers lined up to purchase freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-ReporterHigh school students spend their lunch periods socializing, collaborating, or taking a break at the Carmichaels Area High School’s Learning Center coffee shop. Library aides staff the shop throughout the day.
The Learning Center is not just a space in which students socialize and collaborate. It serves as a multipurpose classroom (the entrepreneurship and personal finance classes meet in the center) and an old-school library – books line the perimeter. The coffee shop helps fund Menhart’s book club and the esports club; the massage chair and gumball machine teach students about passive income.
The transformation began with the giant stock market ticker, which displays to-the-minute stock stats – “We’re in the middle of a stock market challenge,” she said – above the Mighty Mikes store, which sells student-created merch, in one corner of the center.
In a far opposite corner of the center sits a state-of-the-art flight simulator, courtesy of an alumni donation.
“These simulators, they can fly any airport in the world. We have 25 aircraft that they can pick from. (Students), of course, want fighter jets, where they can roll over,” Menhart laughed, “but we make them do the lessons.”
For Menhart, drawing students into the underutilized library was a goal as the district underwent junior/high school library renovations.
“I’m just proud of the whole thing. There’s something in here for everyone,” Menhart said.
While some local districts already offer a less conventional space in which students learn and socialize, others are just beginning their library transformations.
“I would say, probably within the year after the pandemic, starting in 2021, 2022, is when we really started having hard conversations about that,” said Dr. Andrew Oberg, superintendent at McGuffey School District. “We were thinking about converting it to a makerspace … that would allow for creativity, collaboration, hands-on type learning. That’s where we think this is going to go.”
Oberg said high school library renovations haven’t yet begun, but he envisions a multipurpose space that houses multiple clubs, including the district’s esports and robotics clubs, and serves as an additional learning space in which students can research and even create large projects outside of the art room.
He noted many schools now offer “chill zones” for students struggling with anxiety, and he’s open to adding such a space to what once was the school’s library. Oberg is also looking into furniture that can be moved around to create different sorts of learning spaces.
“The library we have here, it’s centrally located. It’s a good-sized space that has both enclosed and open spaces. Our plan as we move forward isn’t necessarily to do away with the books. We want to look at the books from the standpoint of, how have they been used? We start to see some books haven’t been checked out since the 1980s. It’s time to pull them,” Oberg said, adding the district would keep timeless series and other books and archive others.
But ultimately, the one-time library that is getting less use will become a hub for modern learning.
“It’s (technology) changed how kids socialize. It’s changed the way kids access information. It is something that our students are using from the time they wake up in the morning. We’re, as best we can, we’re trying to stay on top of the latest technologies,” Oberg said.
Bethlehem-Center School District is also working to secure grants to transform its junior/senior high school library into an inviting space.
“We didn’t 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’s the direction that we, as a society, are moving toward,” said Dr. Betsy D’Emidio, director of curriculum, instruction and student services. “Our hope is to create a digital learning center that will house STEM equipment, and it can be used for 21st century learning. We haven’t solidified how that space is going to look.”
But the district does know how it will fill that space. D’Emidio and Superintendent Donald MacFann both oversaw a similar transition at East Allegheny School DIstrict. D’Emidio has secured grants from community organizations, and with that funding Beth-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’Emidio“The junior-senior high school, we have a space that was the former library. It’s not being utilized as a functional library,” said Bethlehem-Center director of curriculum, instruction and student services Betsy D’Emidio. “Our hope is to create a digital learning center that will house STEM equipment and can be used for 21st century learning.”
“Technology is just crazy, it’s exploding. It’s strange, because we are preparing kids for jobs that don’t yet exist. What we have to do is prepare them with the basic knowledge they would need to be able to learn other skills,” D’Emidio said.
The drive to prepare students for 21st century jobs – and beyond – is the impetus for Chartiers-Houston School District to shutter its traditional library doors at the end of this school year and begin the transition to a digital learning center.
“How the library was used when I was in school is a lot different than what they’re doing now. I want to maximize that space, make it a community hub. It’s going to be a multi-year project,” said Superintendent Dr. Gary Peiffer.
The project starts with identifying which books are being checked out and which haven’t left the library in decades, removing the shelving that juts into the floorspace, and determining what furniture to purchase to make the space inviting and conducive to modern learning.
Funding is key; Chartiers-Houston was recently awarded a $93,000 Local Share Account grant for its STEAM Career Academy and Digital Media Center.
“The idea is to convert that space, which right now is underused; the district hasn’t had a high school librarian for years. Students aren’t going down there to sign out books. How can we best use that space to meet the needs of our students? The Coursera partnership is the kick-off,” Peiffer said.
Next year, C-H will offer Coursera, an open course provider through Stanford University, that offers online courses, certifications and degrees in a variety of technology subjects. Juniors and seniors will have the opportunity to take game design, JAVA and more specific computer programming classes, and earn badges they can transfer to a four-year college or that will give them a leg up on peers when applying to jobs post-high school.
Along with that partnership, the district is aiming to purchase updated technology for the former library, and perhaps expand its esports program.
“We, as educators, need to think about ways, again, outside of the box, that we can help students gain access to programs that they can really grow with. Are we effective, are we engaging kids, it is challenging, does it best prepare them? Do we build critical thinking skills?” Peiffer said. “It’s trying to get away from, ‘we’ve always done it this way,’ to, ‘how can we adapt to meet the needs of the kids going into the future?'”