The loss of the school library and addition of a new media center opening [insert date] receives both positive and negative attitudes from students and teachers.
“The library at the school was for students to get their work done,” sophomore Aarna Uppal said. “It was a quiet and calming place [and] it was easy to get work done there.”
Alongside the other renovations taking place in the school, the library underwenta seven month transformation into a media center, made with the purpose of being a more comfortable, modern area, to enhance education for students. Since the beginning of the renovations, the library has been closed and unavailable for students to access. Without the library, students couldn’t borrow books from the school or use the space to study.
“Libraries offer a wide range of texts to a wide range of people, regardless of class, income, familial exposure, or any other factor,” English Teacher Natasha Zwick said. “The accessibility of free, printed texts means that anyone who can read can access ideas from anyone at any time. Public libraries are essential to civilization as we know it.”
Despite not having access to books, the reason for the library closing and changing into the media center has been made to accommodate the new ways students learn and study. Due to most assignments being primarily on the school laptops, students don’t need to use physical books and can easily access the online versions. Supporting the increase of online tools for education, the media center’s new changes include charging stations, high speed internet access, televisions, and a new audio system. It’s also expected to have new seating, breakout rooms, whiteboards and more to improve collaboration and learning for students.
“I used to [use the library] to study, especially in the mornings, because I had a zero period, so on Wednesdays I would always be there,” sophomore Zahara Haque said. “I think it would be better as a study space [because] nowadays, people mostly get information online.”
Libraries are very important and have had a large impact on learning in the past. However, the current students haven’t had access to the books in the library so they have been using the library as a study space anyways. The transformation to a media center and creating an elevated study space seems much more efficient for the students at this school. Some think that a school without a library seems strange and the controversy involving books in recent years make the renovations come at an interesting time. Nonetheless, hopefully the space is a calm and welcoming environment for students to use.
“I hope that we continue to encourage our students to make use of the public library system, to cultivate their own libraries at home, and to appreciate the printed word,” Zwick said. “There is something magical about holding a world in your hands, and that’s what we do every time we pick up a book. As Jane Austen has said, ‘There is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book!’”