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A Barnes and Noble atmosphere. A friendly, inviting space that people want to be in. Not a "hush, hush" media center. incorporating all curriculum, STEAM as well as literature.

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A Barnes and Noble atmosphere. A friendly, inviting space that people want to be in. Not a "hush, hush" media center. incorporating all curriculum, STEAM as well as literature.

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Walking into my Media Center, I would love to see...

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Walking into my Media Center, I would love to see...

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soft, comfortable chairs/seating for reading

chess, checkers, games, puzzles, etc. to challenge the mind and  encourage conversation

interchangeable work areas to accommodate small and large group tasks.

book, author, genre, spotlight areas

student and teacher book reviews

attractive signage

welcoming atmosphere.

conversation, interaction, etc.

student centered and student driven

My wishlist:

some new colorful furniture

a SmartBoard (or at least a better projection system)

a few decorative items (more inviting atmosphere)

bright and cheerful signs

We do have MakerSpaces in place during lunch. We call it C3 (create, connect, collaborate) at the Commons! We just need a makeover!

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-of course, more funding
-outside patio for reading space/book club meetings
-more avenues to buy lots of books...I still love books
-full time assistant
-lots of  collaboration with all teachers to create lessons
-new furniture
-maybe a nook or kindle center
-thanks for asking!!!

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-Tons of resources (both print and digital)
-Makerspaces
-Constant activity with teachers coming to co-teach rather than just using it as a place to send their kids
-"Comfy" seating areas for leisure reading
-Nice sound system to play music
-A full-time assistant!
-Students enjoying reading and learning!

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I would love to see a smaller circulation desk in the middle of our space. The entire area would be light and bright - white tables (wheels would be awesome), colorful stacking chairs, smaller sectioned shelves on wheels, maybe one sided shelves on wheels to provide more flexibility to create learning commons. I was SO inspired by the Hunt Library at NC State! I think we all would love to incorporate any piece of that space into ours. We also need to reclaim some lost storage space which would enable us to have utilize learning commons and maker spaces to inspire collaboration. Child-sized comfortable furniture with some alternative seating. Light, bright, cheerful, and welcoming are my goals.

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With the addition of technology games and makerspace centers, my media center is moving in the direction that I want, but there's still a lot left to be desired in terms of space and furniture.

I would love to only have bookcases that line the walls, leaving the floor completely open for works spaces, rather than the bulky double-sided  ones spread throughout the room, taking up lots of floor space.
I would like to have the whiteboard style tables that can be joined together or detached to accommodate work groups of varying sizes.  I would also like to replace my single Smart board with at least three Smart panel screens, mounted in different areas for collaborative work groups.  It would also be nice if I could reclaim the rooms that are now occupied by teachers for device storage space.

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Hopefully, some of my dreams will become realities. Last year, I was able to visit the wonderfully huge NC State Library in Raleigh. I hope to pull together a few ideas from that example.

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Hopefully, some of my dreams will become realities. Last year, I was able to visit the wonderfully huge NC State Library in Raleigh. I hope to pull together a few ideas from that example.

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I would like my library to be more like a "Learning Commons," rather than a traditional library, where students could gather and collaborate or have access to quiet areas where they could concentrate independently.Couches, comfortable chairs and whiteboard tables would take the place of standard wooden tables and plastic stacking chairs. Project based learning would dominate the area with a variety of maker spaces and room to spread out. I also would like to utilize the talents of our tech savvy students by possibly having them volunteer to be student IT Helpers. While they would not perform the duties of our professional IT people, they could operate the charging stations, assist with basic questions concerning Power Points, Edmodo, Word, or other computer functions.
Finally, my last wish would be to have the amazing "robot" that shelves the books at NC State move over to my facility and shelve all of my books in perfect alphabetical or Dewey Decimal order. Hey... I can dream, can't I?

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A place to go because it is exciting.....
Color....Flexible.....Moving. Lots of activity. Students are involved.

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It is the hub of the school where everyone wants to come.  A place where students are free to explore and learning is unlimited.  A place where they come to find resources to help the learn and create anything they can imagine.

When you walk in the door you would see a panel with student's creations playing continuously ( book commercials, drawings, presentations..) It would have centers or stations around for groups or individuals. These stations would be maker-spaces, I Collaborate with the STEM teacher, art, PE, and music teacher to provide centers that encourage students to use all creative avenues. It would provide opportunities for students to experience trial and error in order to be successful.  It would be a place where 21st century learning would take place.

It would have a lot of technology for students to use to engage in lessons and in exploration.  It would be amazing to have a recording room for book advertisements ( that are then put on QR codes and placed on the books and on websites) and for the news or other performance creations to be recorded.

The librarian would schedule classes , to do project based learning/inquiry with, to teach 21st century skills, to teach digital citizenship, to teach research skills, and simply instill the love of reading.  Classes would not be fixed.   This would also allow for the librarian to collaborate and go to team meetings to train teachers on the best practices and provide resources for the teachers. It would allow the librarian to plan lessons with the teachers that would help meet the needs of the students. Teachers need to be introduced to the new technologies available and encouraged to use them. In a dream library you would see the librarian leading staff developments on research skills, digital citizenship, and ways to lead students to inquire and apply new skills.

There would be technology for student check out. E-books and other learning tools are available in the library but so many do not have the means to access them from home. If students could check out computers they would have access to the library / learning anytime anywhere. In a dream library students would know that the librarian can lead them to find their own valuable and credible information to learn in and out of the school building.
*** And all of the other things that have been mentioned already!

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It should be welcoming and an exciting place to come. The hub of the school. A place to imagine, learn, create, and explore free of judgement.

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More outlets so laptops can be used in different spaces; painted in multiple colors; time to work/coteach for research-moving away from a fixed schedule for every day of the week; Makerspace with low tables so students can collaborate, plan, design with  Legos, K'nex, microscopes, read aloud/record reading stations; seating with bean bag chairs, BackJacks, Wobble chairs, updated leveled reading sets for teachers to check out; Media Assistant to shelve books, located resources for students and teachers; more opportunities to meet and plan and teach with DLTF; Library with movable book cases to create a space that can accommodate two or three groups at the same time. Circulation desk that is at kid-friendly height.

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My Ideal Media Center would be considered the hub of the school.  I would love to be able to turn my media center into a place where students enjoy coming to do research, read, and collaborate with other students.  I would like for there to be a comfortable, inviting area for students to come in for pleasure reading and independent studying.  Ideally I would love to turn the computer labs into small study offices that can be signed up for.  In each of the study spaces there would be collaboration tables that have dry erase tops and outlets for students to be able to charge their laptops if needed.  This would allow students to work on group work and throw ideas around.  I know that logistically there would have to be some kind of windows into the rooms or cameras for security reasons.  Right now we have flexible scheduling which I love, but I would like the media center to be more accessible for students during their lunch periods.  Right now I feel like students are discouraged from coming to the media center during their lunch period at my school. I guess overall I would like to turn the media center into a place where teachers can bring their classes and work collaboratively with me but also a place where students feel welcome to come in and collaborate on assignments and projects with their peers.  

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My Ideal Media Center would be considered the hub of the school.  I would love to be able to turn my media center into a place where students enjoy coming to do research, read, and collaborate with other students.  I would like for there to be a comfortable, inviting area for students to come in for pleasure reading and independent studying.  Ideally I would love to turn the computer labs into small study offices that can be signed up for.  In each of the study spaces there would be collaboration tables that have dry erase tops and outlets for students to be able to charge their laptops if needed.  This would allow students to work on group work and throw ideas around.  I know that logistically there would have to be some kind of windows into the rooms or cameras for security reasons.  Right now we have flexible scheduling which I love, but I would like the media center to be more accessible for students during their lunch periods.  Right now I feel like students are discouraged from coming to the media center during their lunch period at my school. I guess overall I would like to turn the media center into a place where teachers can bring their classes and work collaboratively with me but also a place where students feel welcome to come in and collaborate on assignments and projects with their peers.  

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Ideal Media Centers (maybe middle and high would look different - this is thinking for elementary kiddos)

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Ideal Media Centers (maybe middle and high would look different - this is thinking for elementary kiddos)

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My ideal media center encompasses quite a few moving parts that all function simultaneously. It is open throughout the entire school day for circulation of materials, as well as being scheduled flexibly during the week. Schedules are net fixed each and every day which prevents true collaborative opportunities, but instead teachers are encouraged to plan in conjunction with the media specialist to develop projects and lessons that incorporate information literacy skills.

It is well staffed, meaning there is a licensed media specialist available at all times for planning, instruction, tech troubleshooting in the absence of a technician, resource selection, etc.  However, there is also a library assistant available to assist students and teachers with circulation and shelving of materials (even if the library operates using self-checkout).  This assistant allows the library to be properly supervised at all times, whether the librarian is teaching a lesson, working with a small group, in a classroom providing digital citizenship instruction alongside a teacher, or in a PLC meeting.  A full-time tech coach and full-time technician is necessary to complete a Media/Tech department.  If you want a librarian to be instructing students on research, information literacy, and digital citizenship, instructional technology facilitators and technicians need to be full-time at a school to provide the necessary digital support teachers and students need.

In order to provide a true Professional Learning Community, librarians need to be able to attend and take part in the PLC meetings throughout the school.  This is where true instructional support can happen, but it's unable to if the librarian cannot attend PLC and/or planning meetings.

There would be multiple physical sections in an ideal library (as well as both physical and electronic collections).  This allows multiple classes and/or groups to be accessing the materials at once. Seating would be flexible and easily moved to provide for small and large groups.  There would also be technology readily available (laptops, tablets, etc.) so students and teachers could use both print and digital resources in their research instead of seeing the computer lab as the place to find answers online and the library as a place that only has books.

Lastly - I love a bright and happy library! Comfy seating that makes children want to read and love their library, as well as kid-friendly designs/displays are a must for me. Woohoo! Love libraries. :)