The temporary library in the freshman center is in the process of being packed up to move into the library in the new building.
“The new library is finished. Workers are just moving and placing casework and other furniture in the space. The last time that I saw it was in December, and the floors and most of the walls were in place, but the glass all needed to be set,” Ms. Elana Arens, high school librarian, said.
The new library will look much different than the current library.
“The perimeter is all special project rooms and small group instruction rooms, and those walls are all glass. If you include all of the perimeter rooms and the two adjacent computer labs, the new library is larger than the old library and much larger than the current temporary one; however, it has less shelving for books. The new library will have shelf space for about 15,000 books, while there were about 33,000 books in the old library. Currently we have about 6,000 books in this temporary space, and the rest are in storage,” Ms. Arens said.
In the midst of the move, the temporary library is also being prepared to host the AP Senior Art Show.
“The new library will have a focus on technology access and community. It’s more of a learning commons than a library. It will be a great space for events for the school and the community, like the AP Student Art Show that we are currently hosting in the temporary library. [Events] like that will work much better in the new space,” Ms. Arens said.
As the end of the school year is approaching, so is the opening of the new library.
“Officially, the move will start right after school is out. Movers will begin moving the five-to-six hundred boxes of books from storage to the new library at that point. I will continue to pack up our temporary space. Starting the week of June 15, I will start unpacking in our new home. The new library will be open for the start of school, August 12, and I am so excited,” Ms. Arens said.
