Physical Changes in My Own School LIbrary

I am not currently a TL but I have a very experienced TL who works in our school. She has worked in our school library for over 10 years and she had developed a very good collection of resources. She has nice displays and the library looks attractive. She has a very artistic eye and I’ve always admired the bulletin board displays she does. She has kept up with diligent and regular weeding and the collection is current. Our TL knows the collection like the back of her hand. However, despite her expertise, she does report that no one uses the library. One of the reasons she feels that this is the case is because she is busy providing prep relief for the primary grades and this leaves little time for collaboration.  Clearly there are changes that need to be made to improve access. I feel that it is important to be open to making physical changes to improve access to learning resources. I think that one of the reasons why the library is not being used is because there is nothing to draw the students in. We have no access to technology in the library which makes our library seem out of touch with 21^st century learners. We have only one computer terminal in the library for students to access our OPAC and so it never gets used. To be honest, I don’t even know if the students even know how to use our OPAC! It wasn’t until taking this course that I really looked at our OPAC and realized how great it is! I was embarrassed that I didn’t know that our OPAC retrieves lists of websites sorted by age readability level. I sheepishly started asking other teachers if they knew this and not one teacher did. Our library needs to be the hub of the school. I think this change is very possible, although it will require a considerable expenditure to create this. I think it is important to purchase 6 laptops for the library so that students and teachers can access our OPAC and online resources. I would arrange these around a hexagonal computer desk so that students can sit together to collaborate. I would also like to bring in a projector and screen so that classes could come down to the library to use it as a gathering place to participate in presentations. I would also like to purchase two comfortable loveseats and an armchair so that students can sit in a cozy and inviting environment. These changes would require a large expenditure of funding (approximately $9000) and so they would need to take place over time, improvements being added bit by bit. Our TL has so many years of experience and wisdom to share and she has built up an excellent collection of resources and it is a shame that it is so underused. However, these changes will help bring it up to the needs of the 21^st century learner and bring students in so that they can access all these wonderful resources!