MEMO

To: Bob Builder, Architect

From: Charleen Bryson, Bayside High School Media Center Specialist

CC: Barbara Gordon, Bayside High School Principal

Date: 3/7/18

Re: Library Design Requests

The Bayside High School media center is an important component to the school

community. With that in mind, I am grateful that you value my input for the design of the

media center in the new school building that is being built for the upcoming school year.

Bayside is currently home to about 600 students, and that number is expected to

increase by about 10% in the next year. In addition to needing a larger space, the media

center needs a more modern design to accommodate the advances of technology that

have occurred in recent years.

Before I begin to address the needs of the media center, I would like to comment on the

current location of the space. The media center is located at the end of a hallway of

often unused classrooms. I strongly feel that this placement gives the impression that

the media center is not a focus of the school. The current media center has a U-shaped

circulation desk that is set in the corner, away from the entrance to the room. Because

of it’s location and shape, I, the media center specialist feel that the desk isolates me

from the students, and I rarely use it. While I am discussing the placement of the desk,

may I also comment on the type of door that the room has. The current door is a single

door with no window, which I feel is isolating. The furniture in the media center is

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satisfactory. Students will often use the free space for studying and socializing, and

often prefer the couches to the wooden chairs. Occasionally, students will sit on the

floor because there is not enough space at the couches. The student computer space is

satisfactory as well, despite not being easily visible from all sides. The 20 student PC

computers are arranged in study carrels with adequate desk space around them.

These computers are used frequently, but rarely fill up completely. There is no adjacent

computer lab to the media center, nor a built-in projector screen. The media center

specialist’s office is small, and nearly bursting with teaching texts, which the other

teachers in the school borrow frequently.

As evidenced above, the current media center is lacking in location, general design, and

in space for teaching and collaboration. With the student population projected to grow at

about 10% in the next year and advancing technologies, a new design layout would be

exponentially helpful to the facilitation of a collaborative work space for both students

and staff. With these things in mind, I have designed a list of desirable allocations and

items that would be beneficial to the future of Bayside High School’s media center:

1. That the media center be centrally located and easily accessed by all students.

The current location at the end of an often-empty hall deters students from using

the space. Students, visitors and staff need to see that the media center is

available and welcoming. Relocating it to a central location will propagate this

idea (Martin, Westmoreland and Branyon 2011).

2. The circulation desk in the current media center is set far away from the

entrance, and is difficult to maneuver out from behind. A desk that is square or

rectangular instead of U-shaped would be much easier to come out from behind.

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 Additionally, if the desk were closer to the entrance of the room, it would be much

easier to observe the coming and going of students in the room, as well as

making the person behind the desk appear more accessible.

3. Ideally, the doors connecting the media center to the rest of the school should be

double doors with large windows. The single, solid door that is in place now

creates an isolating feeling. In addition to that, an ADA equipped door would

ensure that the media center is accessible to all (Blue 2011).

4. More comfortable furniture such as couches and upholstered chairs in the media

center’s free space would facilitate a welcoming feeling for students to study,

collaborate and relax in. The current set up often fills up quickly between classes

and after school, as the students much prefer the comfortable furniture to the

wooden chairs. The free space would also benefit from more electrical outlets for

students to charge their devices with. Outfitting the floor with covered outlets

would be a good alternative to using wall outlets, which are often concealed with

furniture.

5. The 20 student PC computers will remain sufficient as there are rarely waiting

times to use them. Outfitting at the very least, one desk, with and adjustable desk

and an adaptive technologies computer would make the media center more

accessible for students with disabilities (Blue 2011). However, the study carrel

desks should be oriented at an angle, so that the staff member sitting at the

circulation desk can see down both sides of the study carrels.

6. The addition of a computer lab with a built-in projector and screen adjacent to the

media center would greatly benefit the school. By having an adjacent lab, the

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 media center specialist can instruct students in a formal classroom setting,

without interrupting the rest of the media center.

7. Finally, a larger office for the media center specialist with more shelf space for

instructor textbooks would benefit the media center specialist and the rest of the

teacher population. Ideally, the office should be big enough to comfortably seat

4-5 teachers around a desk so that they may discuss lesson plans and be able to

collaborate the plans with the media center specialist. If teachers cannot meet in

person to collaborate lesson plans with the media center specialist, it can be

done by virtual chat, but it is still important that the physical space be available

(Martin, Westmoreland and Branyon 2011).

References

Blue, E. V. (2011). UD and UDL: paving the way toward inclusion and independence in

the school library. Knowledge Quest, (3), 48.

Martin, A. M., Westmoreland, D. D., & Branyon, A. (2011). New design considerations

that transform the library into an indispensible learning environment. Teacher Librarian,

(5), 15.