The Big Flip
Our library was redesigned a few years ago, and I don’t think the TL had much say in how everything turned out. Some things are really annoying but unchangeable, like the TL office being a long way from the door and hidden behind a pillar, or most of the bookshelves being built-in, or the fact that there is only power and network cabling in two areas, for about a dozen computers total.
I have been watching the way that classes use or try to use the library since I started here in late April, and I have decided to flip the fiction and non-fiction collections over, to avoid some of the problems we had had when classes tried to share the library.
Until now, the non-fiction was up near the door, and the fiction was at the ‘quieter’ end with soft chairs etc. the difficulty was that half of the computers are at the far end of the room, past the quiet reading area, so students coming in to do research would be a distraction for those trying to read for English lessons.
My mini-makeover will create a distinct fiction and reading area near the front of the room, with book display space right where students walk in, and will put the tables and chairs in the centre of a research area, surrounded by the non-fiction collection and having the two groups of desktop computers at either end. As we have laptops available, and will be having netbooks too next year, it will be possible for a whole class to sit together, comfortably, using computers and books to research.
That’s the plan. We’ll see how it works :>