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!
Check out this cool computer lab! Although more schools are moving toward a 1 to 1 Chromebook/laptop program, reducing the need for labs, there are still good teaching programs to be done in a lab, in addition to other important uses, and providing this in a library is a great resource! (Plus, look how nicely organized this is; maybe it’s the librarian in me, but this makes me happy to see.)
I love these long views over the library! You can see how far-ranging the resources are here, and how many neat things there are available for students in this library. It’s a good perspective to have! Here we are looking out over the fiction collection.
This visit was to the Zimmerman High School media center; and you can just tell from the beginning of the library that this will be a nice place! It’s so welcoming, and I love the clear identification – it’s the librarian in me, but that kind of detail (user friendly!) helps libraries connect to their communities.
Right at the front door was one of the individual features of this library: a 
You can see how nice the desk area is, with displays, handouts, and all sorts of things to look at as patrons are processed.
Thinking about those patrons is always a good idea, and this is (hopefully!) a fantastic idea for summer reading! The library books can be checked out for the entire summer now – giving students a great opportunity to get some fun (or even educational!) reading done over the summer!! This is the first year they are trying this idea; so everyone cross your fingers that it is a big success!
It is always fun to visit all of our member libraries; but special libraries (those focused in on specialized collections and audiences) are a special kind of fun because they tend to be organized a little differently and to have different materials than most other libraries. Hazelden was no exception! Barb Weiner showed me around the library, and graciously sat with me while I asked a million questions and we chatted about libraries.
You can see the special touches in this library, presenting the library as a valuable resource as well as a welcoming place to visit. I just love this book-themed curtain separating out the work space from the public space – it’s adorable! And says that this is a nice place to visit – always an important message when encouraging people to use your library!