This article outlines the process I have taken in the last 5 years.
Ten ways to transform your library into a flexible learning space
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Category Archives: library renovations
NeW Space Community Day
Gallery
This gallery contains 12 photos.
Today the new University of Newcastle city campus opened its doors to allow the community to have a look around. It was fabulous to look around this great new building and see all the distracting views students will be faced … Continue reading
Creating a Better Library Environment 3
More of a picture of the library environment I inherited in 2013 can be seen in these pictures. The Fiction collection which was very small for a high school of 1400 students had a bare cardboard coloured notice board at the end which I attempted to brighten up with posters and an untidy collection of videos, dvds, teacher reference at the other end.
In order to make the library more inviting. I expanded the Fiction and created a quiet reading nook. The notice board was also covered to highlight reading promotion material.
Painting the posts in the library the key colours of red, mint green or deep blue also lifted the atmosphere.
Creating a Better Library Environment 2
Early in my time as teacher librarian at Warners Bay I made a sign for the new book display. As you enter the library the New Books display is directly in front of you. Originally it had no sign at all and I wanted to create a bit of excitement. I used letters from Typo and glued them to a strip of wood to make the sign. On special for a dollar each were some letters that looked like large Scrabble letters. I couldn’t believe my luck when I found the letters of “NEW”. For “books” I used assorted letters for interest and colour. The colours of this sign determined the colours I have used throughout the library. Red was already a feature colour but the other colours came from this.
Creating a Better Library Environment
Welcoming wall clearly identifies the Library
The outside of the library at WBHS is a great visual statement about what the library offers and was here when I arrived. What I’d like to show over the course of a few posts is the gradual change that has happened inside the library to create a more flexible space with clearly defined zones of different activity. Unfortunately I didn’t think to take photos before I started so I don’t have anything that shows what it looked like at the beginning of 2013 when I was appointed to the school. You will have to imagine the bland creamy pillars, large rusty newspaper drawer unit, bulky photocopier, stacks of spare chairs like a furniture storeroom, corralled video shelves, and semi-dismantled and abandoned ceiling fan. The one picture I could find shows the video collection using a chunk of floor space in the body of the library.