I have been asked to write an article aimed at the administrators of international schools, answeing the question: Do we really need physical libraries any more? So below is my draft that I am hoping you, my PLN, will read and help me improve. (Part one.)
Changed but Still Critical: Brick and Mortar School Libraries in the Digital Age (Part two of two)
2. Multi-media production and presentation spaces
School librarian and writer Joyce Valenza reminds today’s educators that we need to stop thinking of the library as a grocery store - a place to “get stuff” - and start thinking of it as a kitchen - a place to “make stuff.”6 The kitchen metaphor is a good one when looking at how technology should be a part of the physical library.
Student access to technology has evolved over the past 20 years. Access to information and digital productivity tools is requiring less and less school real estate as schools move from computers in labs housed in separate classrooms, to labs in or adjoining the library, to classroom mini-labs, to carts of laptops, and increasingly to 1:1 laptop projects. Students are increasingly using personal mobile devices such as iPods, netbooks and even cell phones that decrease the need for school supplied computers even more.
As digital access moves from workstation to mobile devices, the physical library needs to provide a robust wireless network infrastructure. Electrical outlets throughout the library to power and recharge mobile devices are necessary. Indirect lighting that reduces screen glare is important throughout the area, not just in labs. Workspaces on which laptops can be placed a good ergonomic height are needed.
Some library terminals need to remain available for quick access to the library catalog and quick reference queries. Workstations with good processing speed, adequate memory and software for video and still photo editing, music production, voice recordings, computer programming and multimedia composition are still important. While portable devices are growing more powerful, desktop computing is still needed for many applications and by placing these machines in the library, everyone throughout the school has access to them.
Libraries have traditionally contained presentation areas for librarians to read stories, do storytelling and create puppet shows and skits. These spaces are still useful but need to be expanded for student and staff use as electronic presentation areas. Student demonstrations and presentations that take advantage of multimedia enhancements such as video, computerized slideshows and sound need good audio amplification, video projection systems, interactive whiteboards and student response systems. Such presentation areas can be universally used by all classes in a school when they are a part of the library.
While not glamorous, the library is often the best choice to serve as the technology hub of the school. Often located in a central location, the library’s controlled backroom spaces are well suited to be wiring closets containing servers, routers, patch panels and other networking equipment. Building technology integration specialists and technicans’ office and workspace should be a part of the library where students and staff have ready access to their expertise and collaboration between technology and library staff is increased.
Teaching spaces
The library’s tools (print to electronic information sources) have certainly changed, but not its mission: - teaching people to effectively find and use information to meet their needs. Skill emphasis has shifted from finding and organizing information to evaluating and using information. The teaching role as opposed to the “providing” role of librarians has grown. But students and teachers need guidance and instruction more than ever. Teaching spaces remain vital.
Large group instruction is still a useful means of imparting information, giving instructions, and holding discussions. This requires having a classroom-sized seating area or areas (depending on school size), in or attached to the library. An attached room to the main area in the library provides noise containment going in both directions, but tables in a corner of the main library works as well. In either case, a whiteboard or interactive white board, projector, a means to show video, sound amplification, and other large group teaching tools are needed.
Seminar and small group spaces are popular in all libraries. Spaces serving four to twelve learners can be created by sectioning-off part of the main room with furniture or dividers. Separate conference rooms (with windows for visual control) are appreciated by many groups throughout the school.
And the librarian’s desk needs to be on the floor of library for ready one-on-one assistance.
What about books?
Will all books be replaced by digital resources? Should we start ripping out bookcases now? Much of this may well depend not on technology, but on how well Google does in the courts with its “scan now, ask permission later” approach to copyright.
If U.S. intellectual property laws don’t change and ownership of the 70% of books that are not in print but not in the public domain remains in question, a lot of information will remain accessible only in print form. Libraries will definitely become digital information centers, but not as quickly as one might think since conversion speed is not a technical issue, but a legal, moral and social one. Books will be available in multiple formats for a very long time. Print, audio and digital will continue to co-exist quite nicely much as radio, television and the Internet does now.
Design for the technologies that are available now, not those just over the horizon. The horizon might be further away than you anticipate. And make flexibility one of your key goals as you reimagine your library space.
Conclusion:
Look at places where kids DO want to be and see what might be learned from those spaces. The coffee shop should guide us tell us kids want a social learning space. Online preferences suggest we need to give kids a lot of access to digital resources. Gyms and theaters indicate that libraries should be performance spaces where kids can share information, not just absorb it. And finally, the popularity of social networking sites and media sharing sites like YouTube, demands that we make libraries knowledge production areas.
Be very broad-minded about the functions of the school’s library and get planners thinking less about designing an effective library, but an effective school with a library program that supports the school’s goals.
A good library is a physical indicator that a school embraces certain values regarding education - that multiple points of view have value; that teaching kids how to think, not just memorize, is critical; and that self-exploration should be encouraged. I would hope the school library will be considered almost a sacred space dedicated to honoring those who use its resources to meet whatever informational, educational, socialization and personal needs they might have.
6. Valenza, Joyce Kasman and Doug Johnson. “Things That Keep Us Up at Night.” School Library Journal, October, 2009.
For further reading:
Johnson, Doug “Are Libraries (and Librarians) Heading Toward Extinction?” Teacher-Librarian, Dec 2003 <http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/are-libraries-heading-toward-extinction.html>
Johnson, Doug “Dangers and Opportunities: Challenges for Libraries in the Digital Age” Minnesota Media, 2007. <http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/dangers-and-opportunities-1.html>
Johnson, Doug “Do Schools Still Need Bricks and Mortar Libraries?” (Point/Counterpoint) Leading & Learning, November 2009. <http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Publications/LL/LLIssues/Volume3720092010/NovemberNo3/do_schools_still_need_brick_and_mortar_l.htm>
Johnson, Doug “Facility planning: a list of resources.” (webpage) <http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/facility-planning.html>
Johnson, Doug “Libraries for a Post-Literate Society” Multimedia & Internet @ Schools, July/August 2009 <http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/libraries-for-a-post-literate-society.html>
Johnson, Doug “Seven Most Critical Challenges That Face Our Profession” Teacher-Librarian, May/June 2002. <http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/seven-most-critical-challenges-that-face-our-profession.html>
Johnson, Doug “Turning the Page” (E-books and their impact on libraries) School Library Journal, November 2004. <http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/turning-the-page-e-books.html>
Saturday, August 14, 2010 at 09:32AM 
Grandson Paul in Grandma Annie’s garden. ->
