Serena Ramirez

GLMS608

Professor Gray

December 13, 2021

School Library Facility Plan

Public School X is home to a modern library. After a school renovation project to expand

the school, the library was one of the new facilities included in this project. The library is fairly

new, opening its doors in 2015. It serves the purpose of a library, a classroom and a meeting

space. It has plenty of oak bookcases both tall and short, with matching rectangular group tables

and chairs. There is a computer station with 3 desktops and a printer, as well as a Promethean

board for teaching and presenting. There is a reading nook with tiered seating and cushioned

chairs. There is a bright blue rug where students can sit to listen to a story or cuddle up with a

good book.The library provides students with access to a xerox copy machine (when needing a

black and white or color copy) when they are working on a project. The library is also very

technologically equipped with a 3D printer and the Makerspace books and other STEM tools.

Currently, the library is on a fixed schedule. Kindergarten, 1st and second grades are

assigned to visit the library one period a week as a “special” (teacher preparatory period). The

3rd, 4th and 5th grade participate in open access book exchange through assigned slots biweekly

due to the Pandemic. With this fixed schedule students are exchanging books (at most) once a

week. Note: Pre Pandemic all classes 3rd - 5th have open access weekly.
 The library at P.S. X has one librarian who manages the library. She checks in and out the

books as well as organizes the books on the shelf. She orders the books the students would best

benefit from while trying to keep the space updated by monthly holiday themes.

The library is a very popular location. The students adore this inviting learning space. I

am sure the welcoming and kind demeanor of the librarian greatly influences the students'

appreciation of this learning space.

The library is very structured, when you enter past the alarm gates there are 3 desktops to

the left, adjacent are 3 long bookshelves horizontally beside each other. The space is outlined

with bookshelves of all genres. There are also several collaborative tables and a large blue rug

arranged directly in front of a Promethean interactive board. To the left of the tables is a small

book nook with tiered seating and several cushioned cylinder and cube seats. The library is a

large space and has an attached office towards the back of the room.

This new library has definitely boosted the excitement within the Public School X’s

learning community. Staff and Students are eager to visit this amazing learning space but there

are many additional ways the library can be utilized to contribute to the learning within Public

School X. I am a firm believer that there's always room for improvement and with Public School

X’s recent expansion they are in a good position in regards to their book collection as well as

furniture. However, there are several recommendations that can support the full utilization of this

learning facility.

My first recommendation is to rearrange the furniture to create learning stations. The

library is a large space; currently most of the books shelves are against the walls. By moving out

the tall shelves and arranging them on the main wall to the left when you enter, there will be

space to move some of the smaller library shelves around and create areas for the students that
the librarian can actually allow the students to explore and learn while being comfortable. By

rearranging the furniture the librarian will be able to see the students throughout the library from

the check-out area. This is beneficial if she needs to multitask checkout while overseeing the

library.

My second recommendation is creating a Makerspace/STEM station. By advertising

these amazing activities, not only will the students be content participating in these beneficial

learning experiences but the students will go back to their teachers. This may peak teacher

interest. Teachers may want to learn more about the tools and choose to coplan and incorporate

these STEM activities into their curriculum. To create a functionable STEM station, I would

move the desktop computer station to the current reading nook and use that designated area to

put a table for a small group to work at the station to create with Makerspace, Engineering,

Robotics or work on the computers. According to Shtivelband, Reindeau and Jakubowski (2017)

“A growing body of evidence is showing that youth develop their interests in science,

technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) through participation in activities across the

informal and free-choice learning environments found in libraries.” By incorporating a STEAM

space within the library, students are being exposed to engage in various activities that they

normally would not have access to.

My third recommendation is to incorporate a self check out automated station. Although

it will take time to train the students how to check in and out initially, by setting up this tool

students may be able to visit the library more frequently because they will not need the librarian

to manage the circulation process. By incorporating self check-out into the library, librarians will

be able to focus on supporting the students within the library as opposed to using precious

learning opportunities for checking out books. In the article “New Self Check-Out/Check-in” the
author (who remains anonymous) (1996) emphasises with a self checkout system, librarians are

able to focus on priorities within the library “where they are most useful-assisting patrons with

research, planning community programs, and fulfilling requests-rather than managing routine

materials handling.”Mathson and Hancks (2007), also emphasize how self check out protects

patrons privacy regarding their book choices.

The library has many books and the collection will continue to to grow. Students and

teachers have a minimal amount of time in the library so exposure to different books would

really support student selection and interest. Although there are books displayed on the shelves

for the holidays, there should be displays reinforcing genres, new books, books that align to what

the students are learning and even librarian top picks. The library would benefit from a

designated book suggestion display to promote different literature.

The P.S.X library serves the kindergarten through 5th grade population and the reading

needs vary. With a large population of English Language Learners and Special Needs students

literacy accessibility must be available. P.S. X has a large population of books on cd but no

listening station. I think the library would benefit from a listening station that provides a

cd/cassette player as well as a device (laptop or tablet) for ebook accessibility. Students should

have the accessibility to listen to books of their preference as well as the language they relate to.

To support the diverse learners as well as reinforce inquiry based learning, I think the

library would benefit from a technology cart that can hold 5 -10 chromebooks and 5-10 ipads to

use for coding, robotics and many additional STEAM related activities. With laptops our

students can sit at the tables and search for necessary research, printing wirelessly to the printers.

The students can also use these devices to log on to Sora reading and Destiny to read or listen to

books of their interest.

 Since the library should be the hub of new technology and curiosity central, the library

would benefit from an Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality station to explore different places

in the world. Many of our city students have not travelled out of their community. AR/VR would

benefit these learners because they can travel the world without leaving the library! This would

greatly support the social studies units of studies as well as researching for assigned projects.

A major challenge in NYC is the lack of human resources. The library would greatly

benefit from a school aide or paraprofessional to support the librarian 2-3 periods a day with

organizing the library and being an extra pair of eyes when managing classes. I think if there is

an extra body the librarian would be able to teach a class, while holding open access time

providing students with additional opportunities to visit the library.

Since many of our students have special needs I believe the student body would benefit

from flexible seating options including (but not limited to) cushions, floor desks, beanbags and a

small sofa. All of these tools are easy to store and will help make the students comfortable while

reinforcing the life long skills. Alzharani states,“Jaspal (2019) found many positive results of

flexible seating in elementary schools, including that students liked the options, it had a positive

effect on learning, and students remained focused longer.” The library is a place to learn and

research, providing different options for seating, students will focus on their purpose at the

library which will be beneficial for everyone in the library.

Additional recommendations are small cosmetic improvements. I think the library would

benefit from bulletin boards placed inside and outside the library to share information with the

school community. I also think since the library has lots of wall space, murals or literacy focused

wall art would make the library a much more inviting and welcoming space.Finally, I

recommend a large lego wall on the wall adjacent to the library. The school community can
collaborate to create a project based on a theme. Not only would this wall be reinforcing

creativity with a very popular STEM item but it will also create a sense of collaboration because

students are working together to create a final product.

Budget:

The budget to accomplish the various recommendations I provided is about $10,000. The

most expensive expense would be curating the laptops and ipads for the library. Although when

all materials are added together it approximates in the $8,000 range we still need to think about

taxes and shipping costs.

Link: Price Total:

Environment

Bulletin Board School Outfitters $192.00 2

Self Checkout Efollet $500.00 1

Technology

Cart School Outfitters $849.00 1

Ipad Apple $329.00 5

Chromebook CDW $239.00 5

Listening Center Amazon $153.00 1

Virtual Reality: B&H $299.00 1

Oculus Quest

Lego Wall

Lego 10X10 Amazon $5.99 16-20

 Baseplate

Materials to create Hardware Store $150.00

border and bond
board

Flexible Seating

Flexible Seating Lakeshore $300

$10,000 dollars is a lot of money to spend on one room in the school building so I

suggest creating mini projects and completing each recommendation through phases. By

prioritizing what is most important or easiest to carry out may be a great place to start. Focusing

on the small projects first may seem more feasible and would be easier to complete. These

smaller projects would be perfect projects to create on donorschoose.org or to apply for small

grants.

Expected Recommendation Outcomes:

With the recommendations suggested the main outcome would be to create an engaging

learning space that provides access to literacy in various forms to meet the needs of the students,

possess various tools to improve the student learning experience and create a bridge of learning

between the classroom and the library. The library is a staple in the school community and with

these recommendations the media center would be an efficient learning resource as well as

provide flexibility for the school community to collaborate and utilize the school librarian as a

partner in learning.
 Bibliography

"New Self-Check-out/check-in Library Automation Tools from 3M." Information Today, vol. 13,

no. 5, 05, 1996, pp. 70. ProQuest,

https://pluma.sjfc.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.pluma.sjfc.edu/magazines/new-self-c

heck-out-library-automation-tools-3m/docview/214834420/se-2?accountid=27700.

Amani Alzahrani. “Applying Flexible Seating in the Classroom to Enhance Learning.” Taboo

(New York, N.Y.), vol. 20, no. 2, Caddo Gap Press, 2021, pp. 213–17.

Mathson, Stephanie, and Jeffrey Hancks. “Privacy Please? A Comparison Between

Self-Checkout and Book Checkout Desk Circulation Rates for LGBT and Other Books.”

Journal of Access Services, vol. 4, no. 3-4, Taylor & Francis Group, 2007, pp. 27–37,

doi:10.1300/J204v04n03_02.

Shtivelband, Annette, Lauren Riendeau, and Robert Jakubowski. "Building upon the STEM

Movement: Programming Recommendations for Library Professionals." Children & Libraries,

vol. 15, no. 4, 2017, pp. 23-26. ProQuest,

https://pluma.sjfc.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.pluma.sjfc.edu/scholarly-journals/b

uilding-upon-stem-movement-programming/docview/2091588575/se-2?accountid=27700.