Facilities Project

Sherri Lazenby
Current Middle School Media Center Floorplan
 Current Facilities and Needs Assessment

This Media Center is in a middle school serving grades 6 -8. The Media Center is centrally located with windows along two sides
that face onto hallways which have windows to the outside. These windows have blinds which are typically kept closed to cut
down on distraction when students are transitioning in the hallways. When you first enter the Media Center you walk down a
bleak entrance that the Media Specialist has tried to brighten up with posters and a bulletin board. Just past the entrance area
is the circulation desk to the right and the computer workstations to the left. There is limited visibility from the circulation desk
into most of the Media Center. The Media Specialist office is directly behind the circulation desk. She has windows on two sides
of her office with blinds. She keeps the blinds open, so that when she is in her office she has visibility onto the floor. Behind the
computer workstation is a work room that is mainly for use of the teachers with Ellison Die machines, bulletin board paper, and
a poster maker. The Media Specialist wants to move these items to the copy room and repurpose this room as a makerspace.

The professional collection is separated with half being under the windows by the Media Specialist Office and the rest on the
wall by the workroom. These materials should be shelved together for ease of use. The collection is also difficult to access
because the Media Center has 7 iPad charging carts and 3 laptop charging carts that are in front of both sections of the
professional collection effectively blocking access, but they have no other place to store them that has the needed electrical
outlets. The 3 ranges of shelving directly outside of the workroom are not used for books because boxes of bulletin board
paper are stored there for lack of storage space. Long-term the Media Specialist plans to store these in the copy room and not
to order in such large quantities in the future. She inherited the stock that is currently there.

The non-fiction is in the shelving in the middle of the Media Center floor. The fiction is along the back wall in the wall-shelving.
There is a small Spanish Language collection in the in shelving under the window on the right-hand side next to the Media
Specialist office. The rest of the shelving on the right and left-hand sides are empty. The Media Specialist does not want to lose
any shelving when renovated because she hopes to build the collection up. The previous Media Specialist only purchased
digital materials the last couple of years, so the current MS is working carefully to build the print collection back up since that is
what her students prefer.

There are two meeting areas side by side. One is in the middle of the seating area with a motorized projection screen. When it
is lowered it covers up the center window. This screen does not have a projector attached, so a portable one must be used. The
second is next to the emergency exit. There is a mounted whiteboard and projector with built in cables for attaching devices.
On the left-hand side at the far back is an emergency exit. This can be problematic as the students try to sneak out this way, let
their friends in, and/or use the Media Center as a shortcut. There are two soft seating areas. One has a couch and coffee table
and is in the middle of the Media Center. The other has a couch, two armchairs, and a coffee table and is located on the right-
hand side near the windows. The rest of the library furniture is old-fashioned hard wooden chairs with wooden tables. Some of
the tables are round and some are rectangular.

The Media Specialist feels she has four major obstacles to providing the best services: 1) lack of visibility, 2) lack of storage with
enough electrical outlets, 3) outdated desktop computers and printers, and 4) lack of flexibility in the space with heavy difficult
to move furniture and fixed stacks. Despite these obstacles the place was very busy when I was there. There were students
using the computers to work on a project. There were students working independently on projects using the library space to
spread out their poster board. There were also two classes in the Media Center using the space. One class was using the tables
and chairs on the far right by the Media Specialist Office to work on a poetry project. The other class was using the projector
near the emergency exit to watch a video because the projector in the teacher’s classroom had stopped working. I spoke to a
few of the teachers and they said the Media Center is always like this. The Media Specialist has made everyone feel welcome
and does a great job trying to accommodate the teachers and students’ needs.
Renovated Middle School Media Center Floorplan
The Media Specialist told me that they are supposed to be renovated in the next couple of years and that they would be taking over
the classroom and office that are near the current entrance to the Media Center. Also, the school is now on one-to-one devices and
the District’s technology plan is to remove the desktops as they break down and not replace them. Based on this information I and
my reading I propose the following renovation.

1. This renovation would include an actual workroom for the Media Specialist and her para-professional who currently has
nowhere to work except at the circulation desk. The teacher supplies would be moved to the copy room as per the Media
Specialist’s current plan.

2. It includes about the same amount of storage, but there would be increase electrical outlets to plug in charging carts.

3. It will include a makerspace/project lab with a folding glass wall that could separate the space into two labs as needed. The
front entrance to the lab would also have the folding glass wall, so that it could be incorporated into the Media Center for
additional space (Frameless Glass Walls, 2017, image 1). The class allows for great visibility. Both sides will have motorized
projection screens that can be lowered as needed for instruction. The space will be furnished with dry-erase flip-top tables
that can be folded up and stored out of the way as needed and stackable chairs (Demco, Inc, image 2)
(image 1, Nana Wall Systems – Frameless Glass Walls) (Frameless Glass Walls, 2017)
(image 2, Demco.com - Best-Rite® Sit/Stand Dry-erase Flipper Tables – Rectangle) (Demco, Inc)

4. The three collaborative learning labs would also have the folding glass wall between facing out into the Media Center and the
walls between them. This will allow these three small spaces to be part of the larger space or it could be made into one large
lab or one medium and one small lab. The two glass walls between the labs would be etched as this allows them to be used
as dry erase boards. In addition, each lab would have a collaborate table with monitor for collaborating digitally (JB Systems
LLC Eau Claire, image 3)
 (image 3, Spectrum Industries, Inc. – InVision Media Collaboration Table, D-shaped) (JB Systems LLC Eau Claire)

5. There will be a sandbox/small classroom space with a motorized projection screen and built in projector. There will also be a
dry-erase flip-top table with wheeled lounge chairs for easy movement (Collaborative Furniture, see image 4).

(image 4, Library Furniture International – Lounge chairs on casters with handles) (Collaborative Furniture)

6. The learning commons will have café style tables with if possible dry erase tops.
7. The chill space will be where readers can comfortably hand-out and read a book with lightweight easily re-arrangeable
seating. (Grand Prix Soft Seating, see image 5)

(image 5, BCI Libraries – Grand Prix Soft Seating) (Grand Prix Soft Seating)

8. The floor shelving will be on casters to make it easier to reconfigure the space (Demco, Inc, see image 6).

(image 6, Demco.com - Demco® Liberation™ Double-faced Wood Mobile Shelving) (Demco, Inc)
 9. Finally, mirrors will be strategically placed in the corners to enhance visibility (Demco, Inc, see image 7).

(image 7, Demco.com - Round Convex Security Mirrors) (Demco, Inc)

10. Due to the concrete sub-floor, additional electrical will have to be dropped from the ceiling for the circulation desk and the
genius bar. Along the walls, there are load-bearing support columns that have electrical. One of these is in the middle of the
outside glass wall for the makerspace and will provide electricity for the learning commons. The makerspace, workroom,
storage, Media Specialist Office and collaborative learning labs will utilize existing outlets and have additional outlets add
through ceiling drops within the walls.

In summary, I think this is a future ready library. It is a flexible and welcoming space (Woolls, Weeks, & Coatney 2014 145). As much
as possible the furniture and the walls have been selected with flexibility in mind. Additional electrical access has been provided as
well as storage with electrical outlets for charging equipment, so that it is ready for use whenever needed. It offers multiple spaces
for collaboration with the makerspace/project lab, collaborative learning spaces, and the sandbox/classroom. There is sufficient
“chill space” for students who want to relax and read. The learning commons provides tables and chairs for students wanting a place
to use their one-to-one devices and work with other students in small groups. The light of sight from the circulation desk to much of
the library is enhanced by furniture placement, glass walls, and strategically placed mirrors. There is sufficient workspace now for
the Media Specialist and the paraprofessional as well as an attractive space for school meetings, teacher professional development,
after-school clubs, parent-teacher meetings, school/library programs such as the annual spelling bee, book club, and whatever new
uses the Media Specialist, Teachers and school administration can think of.
 Resources

“Collaborative Furniture -.” Home - Library Furniture International - Library Furniture, Shelving & More., retrieved on April 18,
2018 from wp-site.libraryfurnitureinternational.com/products-teen-collaborativefurniture/.

Demco, Inc. “Best-Rite® Sit/Stand Dry-Erase Flipper Tables - Rectangle.” Best-Rite® Sit/Stand Dry-Erase Flipper Tables -
Rectangle - Demco.com, retrieved April 18, 2018 from www.demco.com/products/Furniture/Tables/Collaboration/Best-Rite-
reg-Sit-Stand-Dry-erase-Flipper-Tables-Rectangle/_/A-B00434503&ALL0000&es=20180422141446722694.

Demco, Inc. “Demco® Liberation™ Double-Faced Wood Mobile Shelving.” - Demco.com, retrieved on April 18, 2018 from
www.demco.com/products/Shelving/Mobile/Wood/Demco-reg-Liberation-trade-Double-faced-Wood-Mobile-Shelving/_/A-
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Demco, Inc. “Round Convex Security Mirrors.” - Demco.com, retrieved on April 18, 2018 from
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B00174723&ALL0000&es=20180422152727609726.

“Grand Prix Soft Seating.” BCI, retrieved on April 18, 2018 from bcilibraries.com/portfolio_page/grand-prix-soft-seating/.

JB Systems LLC Eau Claire. InVision Media Collaboration Table (D-Shaped) | Collaboration Furniture/Tables | Spectrum
Industries, retrieved April 18, 2018 from www.spectrumfurniture.com/en/products/invision-media-collaboration-table-d-
shaped.

Nanawall. “Frameless Glass Walls.” NanaWall, 23 Mar. 2017, retrieved April 18, 2018 from www.nanawall.com/frameless-
glass-walls.

Woolls, Blanche, et al. The School Library Manager. Libraries Unlimited, 2014.