Warren Central High School (WCHS) Media Center underwent a transformation of its space during the summer of 2012. WCHS is a large school located on the east side of Indianapolis. Our student enrollment is approximately 3,700 and there are more than 200 faculty members. Our diverse school is larger than many towns in Indiana. The updated space and new areas have brought about changes from the traditional high school media center that we knew before. Diane Rupert has been the media center (now MediaPlex)department chair since 2002. Michael McCullough has served as media specialist with Rupert since 2005. We are viewed as a team within our building and we work very well together, sharing the same vision of service for our students and staff. We had been in other buildings in our school district prior to serving at the high school. Since the beginning of our tenure at WCHS, we loved our library media center. It housed thousands of volumes (we are both book-aholics), tables for students to spread out and work, about 100 computer workstations, and looked traditional—it “screamed” library when entering the space. In other words, we adored our space and our positions.

So it was with surprise and some fear when, during the 2010–2011 school year, the former technology director of the Metropolitan School District of Warren Township (MSD Warren), James Aldridge, announced the library media center would be remodeled and renamed The MediaPlex. Neither of us had requested a remodeling of the space. Sure, we would have loved to have some more workstations for students and maybe even rework an old storage room into an instructional area, but remodeling? Closing down and remodeling was not on our radar. And what on earth was a MediaPlex?

Our Fears: Let the Remodeling Project Begin

To be honest we had fears associated with this remodeling project. What would become of our library media center? What would happen to the books? How would the space be altered? How would a non-librarian remake this area? Where would the library media center be relocated during the remodel? Where would we store materials during this time? How could we provide service and access to our students and staff?

The school year leading up to the remodel was hectic, to say the least. There were meetings with community leaders, students, staff members, and of course, us, the media specialists. Aldridge and the architects envisioned an open space—the original vision was to create an atmosphere similar to a coffee shop with wireless connectivity, lots of high top tables and new creative spaces for uses by students and classes. What scared us a great deal was the seeming lack of discussion of where our materials were to go. We had over 17,000 volumes, a room dedicated to storage of educational videos, and incredibly overflowing, tight spaces that could barely hold our audio-visual equipment. Where would this all go in this “coffee shop” model?

It was time for us to speak up! Some of the plans that were presented to us would certainly not work well. Several of the early schemes demonstrated that while spaces can be designed to be pleasant to look at, that doesn’t mean they would be functional for daily use in a large high school. Some proposals were simply a supervision nightmare for us and the media center staff. Through discussion and negotiation, it was decided our books (after a thorough weeding process) could be stored in another building in the district during the renovation. Equipment would be pared to what was actually being used and stored in some underutilized space in the high school building. We would operate a media center in an unused classroom until the remodeling was finished. We had minimal shelving in our temporary space, so we used every book cart we could find to set up a functional lending collection for our students and staff to use. Any books that were not in this temporary space were accessible from the other building. Staff and students who needed materials in storage could make a request and one of us would collect the materials for use the next day.

We moved in May 2012 from our “old” space to a former social studies classroom on the second floor of our building. We were told that we would be moving into our new space no later than the first few weeks of the fall term’s start in August. In reality, we were in our temporary space until mid-October 2012. Construction projects often run into snags that can add days to the project. Plan for the best and prepare for the worst. Our new space was certainly not an exception to that old saw.

Back Home Again

October 2012 was a special month for the WCHS MediaPlex—we moved from our temporary quarters to our new space. October 22, 2012, was our opening day. Many community dignitaries came to our special opening day ceremony and we gave many tours that day. (We gave many tours that school year after our opening, too! In fact, we are still giving tours. Contact us if you would like to visit).

The new MediaPlex actually resides within the footprint of the former library media center. Books that had been shelved only on the side of the space are now spread throughout the space. Upon entering the MediaPlex, what was once the circulation desk is now the Digital Newsroom. The former shelving area has been transformed into two Simultaneous Communications (SiCom) labs. A former classroom area was transformed into the Digital Viewing Room; a former traditional computer lab became a Creative Thought Gallery; the former magazine storage area converted into the reference area; and our former workroom and audio-visual storage areas are now home to two Collaborative Laboratories.

The New Spaces: the Nitty-Gritty

The Digital Newsroom is a space with six televisions that can present news from around the world. The goal is to expose students to local, national, and global news so they are informed citizens not only of Indianapolis, but the world as well. The area is also home to several pieces of student artwork and has seating for students who wish to view the news. In reality, the space does not always work as planned. Since the televisions are dependent upon computers for the content, the computers often freeze and need to be rebooted. This is an issue that the district technology department continues to investigate and hopes to resolve soon.

Remaining Challenges

While we love our space there are a few issues that we would like to see evolve or change over time. Now that the “new” is wearing off, some classes or students do not utilize as frequently as they once did. We would like to see more large groups use us. We are always glad to collaborate with others, find and provide resources, and work on projects. Part of this may be due to remodeling of classrooms that incorporated many of the features staff and students liked about the MediaPlex—walls of idea paint, projectors, SmartBoards. We would also like more shelving. Our print collection was thoroughly weeded prior to remodeling, but it has also continued to grow as we provide resources to support the curriculum and provide materials for recreational reading. The circulation desk is not in an ideal area. At some point we would like to have it moved to a more central location for supervision purposes. Where it is located now is not intuitive to users and does not provide the best lines of sight for the space.

We love the new furnishings that came with the remodel—comfortable chairs for students and the high top tables, lighter wood tones for shelving, and paint that does not look like it was en vogue in the 1950s. We also love our newer offices. While they are smaller than our previous offices, we are located by the entrance that lets visitors see us right away (if we are not busy elsewhere in the MediaPlex or building) and gives us the opportunity to greet and aid patrons right away. Overall, the experience of remodeling was great. Not only did our space get a revamp, but also we were challenged to rethink how we serve our students and staff. As media specialists, we love a challenge and finding a way to solve it.