With the tightening of restrictions on food and conversation in the library, students are searching for a space to congregate during their free periods that isn’t as noisy and crowded as the cafeteria.
“A lot of students need to get work done during their free periods and want to have a snack while working. High school students are responsible enough to not make a mess,” said Miranda Farman.
Many students prefer to use the library as a space to stay during free periods but are not permitted to eat, drink or talk in the library. This has resulted in students being asked to leave the library for violating the rules.
Our librarian Dr. James is already taking action in effort to make the library more friendly for all students to get work done productively.
“As you may have noticed from your visit to the library this school year, there were some changes to the physical space,” said Dr. James. “These changes are part of an on-going discussion that we (myself, school and district administrators) are having on the role of the Library within our two schools and how best to meet the academic needs of all our students.”
Last fall, the school issued a survey on library use to students and collected data to help in a library re-design, according to Dr. James.
“Yes, students should have access to spaces that allows for both individual and group learning, including peer instruction,” said Dr. James. “So, the current conversation is about how to develop student friendly learning spaces within the Library. I think the changes we already made this past year have shown us that there are some wonderful possibilities.”
