This trip was so fun! Jill Seiler, the District Media Director/Tech Coach in the Little Falls Community School District showed me around the Lindbergh Elementary School. Admire the photos below, and see what you can adapt to your own library!
The signs are helpful, and I admit I got kind of excited when I saw that I was so close to the books and other cool stuff!
This display was not in the library, but it is always cool to see schools (and other organizations) that celebrate their history!
This display was immediately eye-catching! I love the round book shelves, fitting in just perfectly under the stairs. Meetings are held here, and it serves as the heart of the school.
I do suffer from a pretty advanced case of what I call “librarian disease” – it’s always exciting to see book shelves with all these nice book, and it’s really difficult to stop myself from just grabbing all the books and looking at them. Jill was very helpful and we spent some time talking about good books for kids!
I like to see the endcap displays on shelves – libraries need to do whatever we can do encourage everyone to come over and check out our materials!
I was not the only book fan in this library! This very nice display of books on Maud Hart Lovelace was pretty nearly cleaned out by students. Yes, this is indeed a great way to know your collection development and display selections are successful: if the shelves are empty, then great! People took home all the great stuff you have and are enjoying it too!
And of course, libraries are more than books! We share information of all sorts, in all kinds of formats. I was very excited to see this video room, with the green screen and the assorted equipment – that sound mixer is pretty much the same one as we have for our podcasts!
I was here for a very cool program they were doing with all kinds of makerspace items! Kids were gluing, sorting, attaching, spinning – everything was excellent, fun, slightly messy, and just generally exactly what you want to see happening in a library! Everyone learns best when we can get our hands on stuff and try it out in a flexible way – and that was exactly what happened here.
There was going to be more fun ahead in this makerspace! Just check out these kits, and the awesome stuff they were going to work with on another day, or in another class.
This is a library that interacts with their community members – the key to success in any library!! You can see the empty brackets here, all ready for March Madness. (Connecting with community members, with things they want and need, is always going to be the right answer!)
We did get to stop in the tech lab, so I could see the cool equipment for kids! You can just tell that kids are doing some really interesting things there!
Have we been to your library yet?? Save us the time in tracking you down, and send us a day or two that will be good for your schedule to have us dropping in for 30-ish minutes! You can email us at admin@cmle.org.
This library was packed on a rare rainy day in Tucson, and was welcoming right from the start! We love the “Libraries are for Everyone” signs! Even better, they had the signs in both English and Spanish.
It was fun to wander through the stacks and see the little details that the library has added to make browsing more convenient for their patrons. The Dewey Decimal system can be tricky, and this library has helpfully placed markers on the shelves to make locating materials easier.
Next, it was on to the Children’s area, which was very bright and cheerful. There were toys (my son tested them and approved) as well as coloring activities, a Spanish language section, and appropriately sized tables and chairs for young readers.
On the way out I was distracted by this excellent display for Black History Month. The side pictured has books for younger readers and the other side features picks for teens and adults. Way to make sure all ages can appreciate the importance of this month’s holiday!
Right away we knew that this library was a fun place, from the welcoming banners on each floor to the happy snowman in an office space.
Outside the Dean’s office area is the main computer area, with lots of spacious areas for students to spread out. We heard about students who would set themselves up to work at a computer and stay so long they went through multiple meals! Whatever it takes to get those assignments finished!
It was great to see a library providing access to vending machines and a microwave for students to use. It was a busy area and hard to take a picture without including students!
We were also able to tour some of the classrooms the library has available for both librarians and faculty to use. This room is the favorite because the design allows for more collaboration. It’s easier to have discussions sitting at a circular table, plus the many whiteboards and giant screen on the wall allows for ideas to be shared easily.
The design of this library is very open and airy, and these high ceilings definitely help that feeling. We admired the architecture while students busily worked together at the long tables.
After the basement, we went up to the third floor which is also an area for quiet work. The windows are lovely, and you can look down on a lot of the library from here. It’s pretty cool!
We turned the corner to discover the archives! They had a bunch of books on display that were written by faculty, and of course I recognized a favorite former professor, so I had to take a picture. There were also very cool artifacts on display from the William M. Lindgren East Asian Art Collection.
We continued across the third floor into the children’s area. The Education building also has children’s materials. This area was cheerful with lots of stuffed animal friends adorning the shelves.
Before you enter the media center is a large space called the Learning Commons. There are several different layouts of tables, chairs, and space to study, collaborate, or just hang out for a few minutes with a good book! We saw lots of students taking advantage of this useful space.
We loved finding the festive art installations scattered around the library. This guy is doing some holiday reading outside the group work areas!
In the front of the library is the always important reference desk! You can see there is lots going on here, and it was great to meet some of the other library workers.
We love seeing libraries with a sense of humor, so these book return bins made us happy. Plus, cats and libraries just go together!
One way the library is making an effort to be welcoming to their younger students is by placing their book options in an easy to find spot. This row of shelves (easy to rearrange, thanks to the wheels!) is targeted towards the middle school readers. We love the holiday decorations too!
A few more cool aspects of this library include this puzzle table, where students can come work on the puzzle in the morning before school, or during some free time. On the back wall of the room you’ll notice a screen that shows school news, like activity schedules and more! There’s also a room where students or teachers can communicate with other school locations, which is pretty cool.
As library fans, we were so pleased to see all the books available for students. This gentleman is browsing the nonfiction section.