By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
The days of the librarian sternly warning students to be quiet in the school library are over at least at Lawrence High School.
With a $46,000 grant in hand, school district officials are gearing up to renovate the library to reflect the way that students learn not alone, but in collaboration with each other in time for the 2013-14 school year.
Those renovations include eliminating the desktop computers that line the walls, and setting up tables where students can gather to share ideas. The plans also include creating a juice bar not the liquid kind, but an electronic one where students can recharge their laptop computers and other devices.
In the past, students went to the school library to look through books and reference materials on their own. But the emphasis now is for students to collaborate and work on projects together, said Alyson Fischer, an assistant principal at Lawrence High School.
”The idea is to move the classroom into the library. They can collaborate more easily in the library than in the classroom. Desks are not conducive to group learning,” Ms. Fischer said, explaining why the plan calls for small tables where the students can sit and bat around their ideas.
Ms. Fischer and Ms. Gonzalez agreed that students also rely on technology more than their predecessors. School district officials want the library to be a hub for technology.
Ms. Fischer pointed out that while laptops and cell phones existed five years ago, devices such as tablets and smart phones are new inventions. Technology has become “another tool in the box” for students, and it has led to more collaborative learning styles, she said.
And while students can be given electronic devices such as laptop computers, it doesn’t necessarily help them to achieve more academically, Ms. Fischer said. It’s the collaborative and inquiry based learning that leads to academic achievement, she said.
Give the students a problem to solve and let them figure it out, Ms. Fischer said.
Despite the march toward greater reliance on technology, there are no plans to throw out the books in the library. Instead, steps will be taken to encourage the “reluctant reader” to become a more willing reader, Ms. Gonzalez said.
The bookshelves will be lowered to seven feet, because studies have shown that taller bookshelves are intimidating, Ms. Gonzalez said. Lower bookshelves also will allow for more display space for books. Research has shown that displaying a book’s front cover is more enticing than displaying its spine, she said.
”The overarching goal is turn the library media center into a hub of information, collaboration and fun. Collaboration is loud. You think the library is quiet, but we are making way for the new collaborative learning model,” Ms. Gonzalez said.
