Step 3: Get A Pulse of School

Pulse of Building

Before you buy any materials or launch any projects it is important to know what interests already exist in your building. Start with what is working.

Do you know?

What are the activities, clubs, programs, etc. that students are really excited about? What about these opportunities draw the kids in? Dive in and learn. Many times we are not aware of everything that goes on in a building so this is important to do as you will be connecting dots in the near future!

What are the existing curricula and programs being used during the school day? What projects or activities are teaching using now that kids love? These are important to be aware of so you can build off of these ideas while at the same time not stealing their thunder!

Start to map out what is currently happening. Look at what is working. Look for the gaps are that showing up as well. This is to help you figure out where the makerspace can fit into the culture and flow of the building.

Gather Information

(information below comes from page 10 of https://www.paragoninc.com/am-site/media/library-implementation-guide.pdf)

You can’t propose a new solution until you have fully assessed your needs. To do this effectively, you should involve all stakeholders in the process, so you are getting input from multiple perspectives.

Here are some action steps to guide you.

• Articulate an overarching mission or purpose for your school library. If its purpose used to be proving access to information, what is its purpose today? This could be helping students make sense of the information around them, making sure they know how to find the information they need or preparing them to be effective digital citizens, to give a few examples.

• List all the needs you would like your school library to serve. Include every function you can think of that would advance the mission or purpose you have just articulated. Don’t be afraid to be creative or expansive; you’ll have a chance to whittle this list down later. For now, let your only limit be your imagination.

• List all of the features you like about your existing library setup. Then, consider all the ways your current library is not very well designed or doesn’t meet the needs you outlined in the previous step.

• Survey or interview students, teachers and library staff to get their feedback on these questions. What new features or functions would they like to see in their school library? What changes would they make to the current space if they had the chance?

• Measure the dimensions of your current library. Take photos of the existing space. Consider how many students it should be able to accommodate during a given class period, as well as how many books and additional resources you will need to make space for.

• Research how other schools have redesigned their library spaces. This guidebook is a good start, but you can also search online and visit neighboring school districts to get additional ideas.