We admit it. We’re biased.
We always like visiting our members in their libraries; and it is fun to go visit and see the neat things they are doing! This is a trip to the third library in the North Branch schools – the Middle School library.
So you can see right from the start this is a nice place – check out that sign! It’s nice and obvious, and just looks good. (Sorry, the picture is off center – the sign itself is lovely!)
I always like to see libraries clearly identified – not hidden away in corners! A library is the jewel of its community; and it’s good to be able to proudly point to it and exclaim: “There! That is our library!!”
Surprisingly – this is not the only library in CMLE with a cool garage door! (Well, it was surprising to me, anyway.) I love the industrial design look it gives the room as you start into the library. Design is always important in any organization – and it makes libraries more usable if we look good for our community members.
I love these little stools! They give some nice pops of color to the room, and make for some nice, versatile seating for students as they are using the library. Being able to move around makes the library more usable for everyone; and the nice ripple bench seating adds another air of coolness to the design.
I am always a big fan of making a library as usable as possible. Installing these nice catalog computers at the ends of aisles makes it fast and easy to find the books each patron is trying to locate – or to find a nice group of books. Usability is key in any kind of library. Notice the nice tags on the endcap – another great tool for making searching easier for people hunting for their books!
Check out these shelves! The primary users of these shelves are not going to be really tall; so proving shorter shelves means the books are accessible. And of course patrons want to be able to see over them, and lower shelving units will make the room feel more open – always nice!
This display is lovely! It is always good to get books out there on displays, to encourage people to take them home! A perfect collection development policy would mean every single book in the library was checked out. That never happens (and wouldn’t be ideal, I guess), but cover art on books sells, and you want to do what you can to encourage those books to head out the door!
Look at the nice tables! Individual desks give students a chance to sit down with their work and any projects they need to work on in the library. You can see the wall shelves – nice and organized, with some cute art displayed on the top. Eye-catching is always good!
Tech is important in libraries – our patrons need to access, manipulate, and share information. This library has those great wall screens, with desks right there; they are all ready for groups to work together on their projects for class!
Printing is important in a library! We are responsible for helping our community members to cross the digital divide; and printers can be hard to find at home. Additionally, printers available are ready to go for the important work being done in the library – ready for class work as needed!
Design is important. There is no value in making a library look blah and dull. Libraries are fantastic! We provide amazing resources, all kinds of assistance and services, and our Return on Investment (ROI) would make a stockbroker weep with envy!! So adding these nice touches makes a library look as good as the work being done there – the neat trees, the excellent pops of orange (I love orange), makes the place look good!
We do always enjoy visiting our members! Have we been to your library yet?? We have over 300 members across our system, and we want to come visit you all! Reach out to us, so we can set up a day and time to visit you!
Yes, it’s always exciting to see a sign letting me know I’m in the right place for the library! (Yes, I’m a massive library nerd; that should have been clear a long time ago here!) And check out this signage – on the wall and on the ceiling. Information literacy is a huge contribution of a library to the students; demonstrating this is valuable by at least having good signage is excellent!
I love to see signs and the ideas they share. (I’m a librarian – we like to see things organized.) Of course, any library needs to have some rules for effective use; but I like to see them phrased in a cheerful way. Look – we are way, way past the bad old days of libraries, where we were better known for shushing people than providing outstanding service. Seeing cheerful service is lovely here!
Printers, and other hardware, are one of the big services provided in libraries. Sure, it doesn’t sound so very exciting; but without printers we are adding some unnecessary barriers to patrons who need to use our services. Thumbs up to all libraries who provide tech services to patrons, even the less-glamorous-but-vital ones!
And while we are on that – good seating is just crucial in any library!! (Note: it was nearly impossible to find some empty areas of this library to take pictures – there were tons of students and teachers using it. That is a fantastic problem! As you know, we are pretty fervent about privacy rights; and we never include pictures of patrons on our site.) Check out these seats!! The adorable, rocking stubby chairs are great for temporary seating – attractive and comfy. The longer benches are likewise comfortable, and gives students the back support for a longer visit. Providing movable seating is going to be a service to your patrons – let them decide how they want to sit and to work. (We, as a profession, are moving steadily away from our micromanaging past – and I could not be more pleased!)
You can tell this school has neat stuff to do, because right out front is this excellent garden area! Yes, it was covered in snow at the time I visited; but just having a garden right there at the school is a very special thing.
I always like to see the library area clearly identified, and you can see how easy it is to see it all. (Okay, I confess I always get excited when I walk into a library for the first time!)
As with so many of our member libraries, you can see how these shelves are set up to be easily accessible by shorter patrons. See how easily kids can flip through these large books, without having to hold them all, and still see the cover art? So handy!!
Kids today all need to know how to use technology, and that means tech of all types and uses. It’s cool to see kids working to check out their own books here! Self-check machines are a great way to free up staff from time consuming work so they can spend more time working directly with the public!
I really like these snazzy shelves, all neatly read to be emptied by happy readers who check out all the books! And those chairs look so very comfortable!! This is a huge thing libraries need to think about: comfy seating encourages people to settle in and enjoy themselves. Libraries should be about positive experiences; good seating is a good start!
These are not unique to this library; but I think they are such a good idea! They are handy tools kids can use to help browse shelves in search of just the right book. They can also put these sticks into the shelves to mark the location of a book they are only going to use for a few minutes and then put back. Sometimes analog solutions are the best ones!
Art in libraries, and making books into art and looking beautiful, is always a good thing! Information is conveyed in all kinds of ways, and visual art can be a very powerful tool for sharing information. Plus, look at this: it’s so cute – I love it!
I had an idea this was going to be a fun school when I walked up to it. Check out this excellent dragon on the playground!! The snow sets it off beautifully, but I bet it’s super fun all year round.
I love these shelves! You can see throughout the library how the shelving is at different heights, to add to the usability for patrons who themselves are different heights. It sounds like a small thing, but libraries need to be thinking about these kinds of usability tools to make our resources accessible to all patrons. Our entire purpose is to serve our communities; making books (and other good stuff) easy to reach is just one important way to do that.
Here you can see shelves set up for smaller patrons. The picture books are arranged so they can be easily flipped through by small hands. One of the basic rules of librarianship is “Every book its reader.” This kind of shelving lets patrons spend the time to find the book that should go home with them!
We were definitely excited to visit this high school library, and a big thank you to Media Specialist Julie Notsch for a fantastic tour! Side note: I actually graduated from Cathedral years ago, so I was extra excited to see how things had improved and changed! 
The student art in this library was really impressive. We love hearing about the collaborations between the library and other departments, plus we noticed several book-related pieces of art were on display!
The layout of the library had definitely changed since I’d attended school here, but the reference desk was easily found and accessible to students who needed assistance!