As of January 2022, my school library is continuing to undergo a renovation, so more photos to come.

The Process

The library renovation has been a five year journey and was begun by the previous librarian who purchased colourful tables and chairs, lounges, a new circulation desk, red and grey shelving for our First Nations collection and new shelving for Junior Fiction. I wanted to work on opening the space up, as there were many hiding spots, improving accesibility to the collection, brighten the space with colour and improve the general flow of the area.

Two years ago we were allocated new carpet; charcoal squares with green, blue, red and orange squares scattered randomly throughout the pattern which matched the colours of the existing classrooom tables.

I moved the circulation desk to make it more prominente and to open up the entrance to Junior Fiction where it previously sat. I found the activity corner for lunch breaks was taking up a lot of space, so this was condensed and the space became the new Fiction section. The entire Fiction section was previously arranged in alphabetical order, so I removed any book series' and made this front facing with shelving I received when an ABC shop closed down. My next project was to generify the remaining fiction collection and this was acheived as a term unit with Year 5/6 students. I then ordered new shelving in a charcoal colour to house the genrified fiction collection. The charcoal was selected as it had previously been purchased as the melamine surround for Junior Fiction. I also ordered new charcoal shelving with a combination of bins, display shelves and flat shelving to house the Quarto Fiction and new Graphic Novel collection.

Also around this time a new Clevertouch IWB was purchased for the library and all of the old Bridgit software was removed, freeing up space. Previously the classroom space was surrounded by Nonfiction and Junior Fiction was tucked up in a corner of the library, I have now swapped these two collections. This was due to the Nonfiction collection not being used as much as the Junior Fiction collection and it also meant that I was able to support my younger readers with book selection, while still being able to view the classroom setting. I have also been able to move the First Nations collection into a previous space taken up by the Nonfiction 900s. This has left room the move the empty Junior Fiction shelving, which was moved into the mobile book bins, to a space where students line up to borrow and return their book. This will now become an event book display area, house the reference books and a new bi-lingual collection. From commencing in the library until now, I have weeded thousands of books and worked to renew the collection. This included a fundraising project in partmership with Dymocks Children's Charities raising more than $10,500 for new books.

At the back of the library I had two small rooms with a divider that were Teacher's Resources and computer desks and equipment. Teacher's Resources underwent a big cull and now take up one long wall only, the computer tables and equipment were removed. This space was opened up and is now a staff meeting space with a table for 10, a 75" TV that can screenshare a computer screen and a large printer/photocopier. This area also houses sets of quality texts that are purchased by stages to teach a unit of work. Last year, the kitchen in the back office of the library was upgraded as this area had to become a second staffroom due to Covid-19 restrictions placed on schools. Previously, I had purchased new office furniture and shelving for this area. The renovation process in still ongoing, but I am beginning to see the end. You are welcome to arrange to come and visit the library by contacting me via the email above.