Facilities Floor Plan 6461_Facilities_bn

Facilities Floor Plan

North Fayette Elementary School
Brianne Norman
West Georgia University
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North Fayette Elementary School

North Fayette Elementary School is a Pre-k through 5th grade school built in 1987. There are

currently almost 700 students. The library has had only minimal updates since it opened, mostly

in the area of adding technology. Here is the current floor plan:

Original Floorplan

Ms. Pahl, the current media specialist, makes the library as welcoming as possible but says it is

hard to accommodate more than one class at a time as well as difficult to see students while they

are browsing. The books shelves, with exception to the easy reader beginner books section, are

five feet tall. This makes it hard for students, especially the younger children, to get books off the

top shelf and it is easy for students to hide in between shelves. Another big problem is there is a

lot of unused and underutilized space. The teacher resource area is rarely used by teachers. The
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materials in it are outdated and with the implementation of one-to-one technology, the books on

tape that are housed there are seldom checked out by teachers. In addition, there are listening

centers available for check out with books on CD that are used more often. Those are kept in the

attached teacher workroom. This section also includes class sets of different titles. However, the

county adopted a new reading curriculum last year and it came with class sets of all reading

materials needed that are housed in the teacher’s classrooms so the books in the library can be

stored in the attached workroom since they don’t have to be readily accessible for check out.

Another problem in the current media center is that all the tables are stationary. There is little

room for flexibility. This is fine when you are teaching a whole group lesson, but it doesn’t

easily allow for small group instruction. It’s also in the very center of the library so when a

lesson is being taught it disturbs other students reading or working on the computers

independently. Lastly, there is a wall mounted computer panel. Mrs. Pahl would love for it to be

put on wheels so that there can be flexibility in where she does her lessons.

Ms. Pahl recently sent out a survey to the teachers in the school asking two questions: “Do you

currently use the media center for instruction or collaborative learning?” and “Do you feel that

our media center is an effective learning environment that allows you to easily incorporate

collaborative learning?” (Survey, October 2018). Teachers who responded to the survey said no

to both questions 64% and 76% respectively. Next, the survey asked, “On a scale of 1-5 with five

being very likely, how likely would you be to use the media center for research and peer

activities if there were flexible learning spaces and seating that could be easily arranged for

collaborative learning?” 82% of the survey respondents said either four or five (Survey, October

2018).

For these reasons I have proposed the following floor plan:

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Proposed Floor Plan

Klein (2016) states that “a school library should be a hub that encourages students to read,

research, explore, connect, and create” (Klein, 2016). With the new proposed floor plan, I hope

that North Fayette Elementary School’s library can become that hub. The first thing that I

propose is that the fiction picture and chapter book sections will have new three foot tall

bookshelves instead of the current five foot tall bookshelves. This will also match the height of

the easy reader beginner books section. This way they are more accessible to the young readers

who are checking them out. It also allows for a better sight line from the circulation desk. In

addition, Mrs. Pahl can use the top of the bookshelves to highlight different books or authors
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available for students to check out. In order to accommodate a new makerspace area, the

nonfiction section along with the teacher resources would be relocated to different areas in the

library. Most of the materials located in the teacher resource section can be stored in the

workroom. There will also be a shelf for some of these resources behind the circulation desk.

One of the biggest changes to the library will be the tables. They will all be on wheels so that

they are able to be reconfigured quickly. This will allow for whole group seating, but they can

also be easily moved for small group instruction and collaborative learning. Another big change

in the proposed floor plan is the configuration of the computer section. In the current floor plan

there are desktop computers on two tables in an L shape. However, as I mentioned earlier, North

Fayette Elementary is a one-to-one school. This means that every student second through fifth

grade has their own personal laptop issued to them from the school. Therefore, the library

doesn’t need that many desktops. It will still offer one table of desktops for kindergarten and first

grade students to look up books or take reading tests on. There will also be laptop workstations

that will seat four students at a time. This will be an area where students can come study, finish

work, do group projects, and other needs.

One of the major changes will be the addition of a Makerspace area. As stated in the survey

results above, the teachers in the building want an area where they can bring their classes to

collaborate and expand on the learning happening in their classrooms. According to Bergman

(2017), “makerspaces and hackerspaces in libraries show that school library media centers are

not just locations to absorb and gain information but also places to create, imagine, and invent”

(Bergman, 2017). The makerspace area will allow for just that. There will be many different

materials housed right there for easy access. Again, there will also be flexible seating

arrangements in this area. Furthermore, the wall mounted computer panel that is in the current
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library will be made wireless and put on wheels so that it can be moved around to where it is

needed.

Woolls, Weeks, and Coatney (2014) state that “areas that support leisure reading with

comfortable chairs will both reinforce the importance of reading and encourage students to come

to the library to find materials to respond to their personal interests as well as their curricular

needs” (p. 148). The proposed floor plan incorporates comfy chairs and a couple small couches

for students to come and enjoy reading. The goal of the library is for students to love reading and

having these areas will allow them the pleasure of taking a break from the day and diving into a

story even if it’s for just a few minutes.

North Fayette Elementary School’s library mission is for all students to love reading and

learning. With the proposed floor plan presented I believe it can become just that. Students and

teachers will want to come, stay, and explore. It will be updated and more welcoming to 21st

century teaching and learning.

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References

Bergman, D. (2015). Libraries, cybraries, learning commons, makerspaces and more! School

Library Connection, 36. Retrieved from

https://westga.view.usg.edu/content/enforced/1709547-

CO.540.MEDT6461.XLS.M9.20192/Libraries,%20Cybraries,%20Learning%20Common

s,%20Makerspaces,%20and%20More.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=dKR3NqjVmIcAqgL5RZ1

ZkfWYy&ou=1709547

Klein, M. (2016, November 28). 3 secrets to making your school library the place to be [Blog

Post]. Retrieved from https://www.commonsense.org/education/blog/3-secrets-to-

making-your-school-library-the-place-to-be

Woolls, B., Weeks, A., & Coatney, S. (2014). The school library manager (5th ed.). Santa

Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.