Library Facility Design
Course
Technology Spaces [3:30]
Discover strategies for updating the technology spaces in your library.
Get at these insights by asking four key questions around the topics of collaboration, the IT department, access, and the tech industry.
First, ask how can you support collaboration with technology tools? When designing for how students learn, one shift we need to make is from isolated spaces to collaborative ones. It is no longer useful to have computers set up as single workstations. Instead, consider flexible arrangements, like tables where students can sit together and collaborate on their devices. If you place a large monitor on each table, then students can more easily see what's being worked on--and teachers and librarians can too. Or maybe your students would rather work at low café tables with a large monitor mounted on the nearby wall.
Again, there isn't one best-fit design for all school libraries. The key is investigating what your community needs and, wherever possible, enabling the space to be adaptable for future technology innovations that become standard use for your students. This may include having a "studio" area where students can record without being heard by others and without interruption. Or it may include having a green screen that can easily be dropped down in the large group area for impromptu video recordings.
In addition to its use in independent and small group work, technology also plays a role in large group events, whether it's visits by guest speakers, panel presentations, or skype sessions with students half a world away. Consider how you will handle acoustics and visuals. Can you install an internal sound system with a microphone? What technology will you use to project images in a place so everyone in a group can see them?
The second question to ask is what does your IT department think? It is crucial to have input from the IT department in any planning you do around technology spaces. Your goals are the same: effectively integrate technology into the school. Find out what they see as barriers in your current setup and what their pie-in-the-sky dreams are. Use their expertise and insight to help guide realistic options for your library.
Third, ask what technology your students have access to. Is your school 1-to-1? Or do students need access to desktops or loaner laptops? Where will your locked storage options be? And a correlated and absolutely essential question: how will you integrate enough outlets to power the technology being used?
Finally, contemplate, what can tech stores teach you. Stores like Apple or Best Buy can offer inspiration. Would a digital bar work in your library? A place where students can ask questions of staff, or--even better--other students to help them understand how best to use their technology. Having a space that tech-savvy students, volunteers, and/or staff can call their "own" and that is a predictable place for others to find them goes a long way in keeping everyone's tech in working order. Also, observe how stores remove the clutter of cords and plan for ways to tuck them away or cover them in your space.
By assessing your tech needs and resources with these four questions, you can be ready to create an adaptable, dynamic space for students to learn.
When it comes to designing tech spaces, there are many directions you could go in. It can help to look at how other schools have done it effectively. Read the article "From Library Media Center to MediaPlex" (in the Resources below), to learn about one library's transformation of their technology spaces and then complete the Reflect & Practice activity to jumpstart your thinking on possible solutions for your library.
Part of the redesign process at Warren Central High School involved creating a number of creatively named spaces to use technology in various ways. Using the form above, brainstorm all the possible tech-specialty areas you could create in your library. Don't worry about being realistic—imagine you have an unlimited budget and endless space. What technology-focused spaces would you create? What would call them? Discuss your list with a colleague. Are there any ideas that could be realistically incorporated into your library design?
MLA Citation
Editorial Team, SLC. "Library Facility Design: Infinite Possibilities." School Library Connection, November 2024, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2171562?learningModuleId=2170983&topicCenterId=2247902.
Entry ID: 2171980
Collaboration has a place in all aspects of library life, from instruction to advocacy to technology. Read the SLC article, "Media Specialists Are from Venus and IT Specialists Are from Mars" (in the Resources below), about one librarian's successful experience learning to work with her school's IT specialist and then complete the Reflect & Practice activity to apply it to your own situation.
Set up a meeting with your school or district's IT specialist in the library. Take a tour of the space and ask their opinions on the setup and integration of technology. Discuss their priorities and find out where there is overlap. Establish communication protocols so that any future work you do together will go smoothly.
MLA Citation
Editorial Team, SLC. "Library Facility Design: Collaborating with IT." School Library Connection, November 2024, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2171562?learningModuleId=2170983&topicCenterId=2247902.
Entry ID: 2172008
Additional Resources
About the Authors
Email: rmorris@schoollibraryconnection.com
Twitter: @rebeccajm87.
MLA Citation
Editorial Team, SLC. "Library Facility Design. Technology Spaces [3:30]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, November 2024, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2171562?learningModuleId=2170983&topicCenterId=2247902.
https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2171562?learningModuleId=2170983&topicCenterId=2247902
Entry ID: 2171562