Changes in the RHS Library

By Anthony Ciano, Staff Writer

December 6, 2023

ROCKLAND- The Rockland High School and Middle School is missing a full-time librarian for the 2023-2024 school year. 

As of this summer, the previous librarian Mrs. Janyce Kemp, took a new role as a history teacher, leaving the library behind.

The absence of a full-time librarian has affected the school lifestyle for many students at Rockland High School.

Although there is a temporary librarian, Mr. Brandon Hall, the library is now only offered to junior and senior class members.

Mr. Hall is new to Rockland, and loves his job as it gives him the “opportunity to independently work through backlog and help students find something to read.”

The library is vital to many students' days in school as it provides resources such as books, printers, and study space. 

Many students use the library daily for various reasons. 

Senior, Julia Alex, goes to the library every day during her study and enjoys that “you can go to the library if you need a quiet place to study or just have some alone time.”

However, with the absence of a full-time librarian comes many challenges.

Challenges include a small capacity of students able to attend, less time open to students, and stricter rules of who can attend and who can not.

As for right now, many seniors and juniors are still able to utilize the library's unique study spaces and resources. 

Dr. John Harrison, principal, said the reason for freshmen and sophomores not being able to go to the library during studies is because grades 9 and 10 are in combined studies, and he didn’t want it to be confusing for teachers to decide who could go and who couldn’t. 

The consensus amongst students is that Mr. Hall has been an amazing fill-in librarian during his time here. 

It takes a lot of hard work, motivation, and dedication to be a librarian as well as having big shoes to fill.

Hall is very kind to students and loves his job of working with books and helping others. 

Although Mr. Hall is a temporary librarian, he emphasized that he “would love to pursue being a librarian in the future”, and is “trying to get [his] degree in doing so.”

Rockland High School students can expect to see Mr. Hall for at least the rest of the 2023-2024 school year as he works to befriend, help, and work with students.