TIME TO TAKE ACTION!

STEPS

1. Get inspired!  Explore the RESOURCES below, visit other school libraries, look on Pinterest, in vendor catalogs, etc.

 2. Assess your current space: Look with a critical eye and have others look.

• What could be removed, replaced, re-located or re-purposed?

• How could the space be more student-friendly and learner-centered?  Focus on STUDENTS' needs.

• Is the collection well organized and maintained?

3. Develop an Action Plan and budget proposal to share with ODL library media team and your principal.

• Prepare to justify any funding requests by explaining how the transformation will support student learning and school/district goals (SPP, STAT, etc.)

• Prioritize based on needs assessment and available funding. Do a "phased" plan for needs which cannot be immediately addressed.

• ODL Library Media staff will contact you to arrange for a Library site visit. Be prepared to talk us through your Action Plan and describe actions you have taken to date, including weeding efforts.

4. Start making some transformative changes NOW! Even small changes can make a huge difference.

5. Share the news about your library's transformation with your school community, LMS colleagues and BCPS.

• Tweet photos and testimonials and publish in your Library e-Newsletter.

• Share ideas, resources and photos with LMS colleagues via new Space Transformation small group in Edmodo. 

•  TIP: Create a One Drive folder for your photos and share the view link on Edmodo. 

TIPS

• Involve students in re-designing the space. It's THEIR Library!  

• Start with space planning. Consider the 4 C's:  Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, Critical Thinking.

• Go beyond the furniture to address color/paint, signage, lighting, anchor charts, rotating book displays, student artwork, etc.

• Consider low-budget solutions and DIY projects. 

• Appeal to your users: diversity, gender-neutral design, age appropriate ... not too juvenile, too mature, or too trendy.  

• Include space for creativity & innovation like a Makerspace, Fab Lab, Collaboratory, etc. This could be "mobile" if space is tight.

• WEED regularly. Unappealing, aged titles take up valuable real estate and negatively impact the whole environment.  

RESOURCES

• BCPS Learner-centered Environment Professional Learning Tool

• Library Marketing Plan by Jennifer Lagarde from School Library Marketing 101: It's About Students, Not Stuff  

• Local inspiration: BCPS Library Media Center Physical Space Designs 

• BCPS ODL Pinterest Board: Library Media Center Physical Spaces 

• BCPS Lighthouse Learner-Centered Environments  |  Wall Space  |   Setting Up Classrooms 

• BCPS ODL Resource Wiki: Learner-Centered Environments

• BCPS ODL Roadmap: Telling Your Story

• DRAFT MSDE Facilities Guidelines for Library Media

• Floor Planner online tool

• Articles:

• Why School Libraries are Transforming into Learning Commons, eSchool News

• 21st-Century Libraries: The Learning Commons, by Beth Holland, Edutopia

• Learning Spaces, by Diana G. Oblinger, Editor

• Something Different, by Kim Cofino, Always Learning: Teaching Technology Abroad blog

• Divine Design: How to create the 21st-century school library of your dreams, by Margaret Sullivan, School Library Journal

• Function Over Form: Transforming School Libraries from the Inside Out, by Marisa Amara, Demco Interiors Blog

• BCPS Contracted Vendors:

• American Design Associates 410-823-5500  George Schriener   Denise Lewis 

• Douron, Inc. 410-363-2600 ext. 3069 Bill Martin

• Reps for both companies will do a design consultation visit, bring brochures and samples, create a design for your approval, and recommend furnishings for your space and budget.

• Harbour Signs (410) 488-8810  Inform them you are purchasing for a BCPS library for contracted pricing.

• Demco & Brodart (library supplies & furnishings) - Orders for BCPS will now be placed in eSchool Mall.

• If you do not already have an eSchool Mall account, you will need to register for eSchool Mall training to order from these vendor catalogs; discuss this with your principal. If you will not be a Procurement Card holder, you may access the vendors' public online catalogs to make selections, and have your ordering designee place the order in eSchool Mall.