Thursday, September 28, 2017

A New Space for a New Year

This year, I am so excited to roll out our new Reading Nook. A couple of years ago, there was some talk about possibly updating the high school library. At that time, I sat down with a few students in their English class and asked what they wished we could have in the library. A number of them asked for a quiet place to read. Our library is set up with many large tables that easily facilitate collaboration - and for better or worse, it can get pretty noisy sometimes. The request seemed like a necessity that had been overlooked. Although the funding never materialized, I still felt compelled to make our reading nook happen.

Over the summer, I asked for one of our shelving units to be moved into the fiction section (we can always use more shelving in the fiction section!), which opened up a nice bright space by a window. Then, I moved a few of our reading chairs into a quiet, secluded area of the library. I bought a rug and inexpensive end tables at Ikea for a total of $120. Luckily, I had a small grant left over and was able to be reimbursed for this cost. Now, we have a lovely reading nook that seems to really provide something special for our library.