I took a recent visit to the St. Cloud Christian School library – and it was so nice!
This is a small school, and there was a strong sense of community here, and you could see that not only in the library but also across the entire school.
This room is the current Board room, but used to be the library! All the material had to be transported up to the new library location, where they have much more space available. Thinking about expanding library needs is always valuable, and so good to see in a parent organization.
The tech lab is nicely outfitted with laptops for students. Having this room connected to the library, and a significant part of it, means students are connected to information in paper and digital formats – both important for their skill development.
Also in the tech lab are the YA novels. Like all school libraries working with a broad range of student ages and experience levels, thinking about ways to share books in an age-appropriate, or useful, way is part of the process of designing the book placement.
And I just loved this! As is true in most libraries, space and access are at a premium. These bookshelves hold books for the younger patrons, and used to be turned on their sides. But you can just imagine the chaos when excited young patrons start pushing books out of the way to get to their very favorite one! So they flipped the shelf over, and now all the kids can reach the books, and they stay (reasonably) organized! Libraries are great places for being innovative, and figuring out how to serve our community members in great ways.
Older patrons have books and materials on more standard book shelves, including the photo on the right filled with DVDs!
The librarian in me loves schedules; so I was possibly overly excited to see the nicely organized schedule!
You can get a good perspective on the entire library here, and it was a little tough to get a shot without the enthusiastic patrons using the library!
I love Nancy Drew, and Hardy Boys, books – so this was very fun to see!! (I may have gushed with happiness here just a bit.) I grew up reading these yellow and blue covered versions of the books – and of course I watched every episode of the TV show!
(For you unfortunate souls not old enough to remember the 1970s, watching The Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries show was so exciting! Check out the opening theme song, and feel the scary chills! There was not enough attention on Nancy Drew (Pamela Sue Martin); but Shaun Cassidy (playing Joe Hardy) was hitting as a major hottie and music star – on the cover of many Dynamite magazine covers! So. Much. Feathered. Hair!)
It’s always good to see community involvement in any library – and student/patron created art is such a great sign of library interest! This technology art hanging on the library wall is both eye-catching, and shows off the future directions of the library and the patrons in it!
And they even have the basic library features of a reference desk, and a new book display!! This library may be small, but is mighty in providing service to its community!