Media center renovations implemented by administrators
October 30, 2018
Boxes being unpacked with books and other new supplies for the media center.
This year, the media center has received the attention of administrators who allocated funds for a full renovation of the spacious room. According to staff, the new tables and computers are going to be arriving soon.
The media center is one of the last spaces in the school to be updated following the recent school renovations. Many of the media center resources such as the computers were half a decade old and very slow, so the staff decided to improve the space for students.
In recent years, the school has received massive upgrades to various parts of the building, such as the PAC and the updated science classrooms and collaborative spaces. However, one place where things have stayed the same for a while is the media center, which is why it was in the eyes of administrators when looking to renovate.
Media Specialist Emily Johnson explained, “I think it has been the same, to be honest, ever since the library was built as far as I’ve been told. It’s been a long time.”
Many students have expressed concerns because they no longer have any access to computers in the media center. Many students also feel that other areas of the school should have received attention from the school budget before the media center. However many staff members disagree and see the media center as a beneficial utility for students.
Assistant Principal Chris Otto who oversees the media center said, “We can never meet all the needs. It’s a balanced approach, if we put all of the funds in a particular place, then other things are going to drop to such a deficit level. So we have to balance it out. The media center is a very busy place used by students often and so updating it with tools are better for academic development.”
We need some more updated books that are geared towards today’s students. So I would like to do that because we have to weed out a lot of the old books. And so kind of looks like we’re a little empty right now.
— Marc Wade
The new things students can expect to find in the media center soon include laptops for printing, new furniture and even a coffee cart set up.
“We will be looking at trying to get more books, so we have to either raise money or use whatever’s left in the budget for that. We have laptops already set for printing purposes,” Paraprofessional Marc Wade said. “We are streamlining the look of the media center with the new tables and chairs just to make it more inviting for people to come in, they’ll be setting up, another coffee shop in the back area, to kind of have that Barnes and Nobles feel for people.”
According to media center staff, their upcoming goals for the year are to update the library to accommodate today’s students with topics that matter to the teenagers of 2018.
Wade explained, “We need some more updated books that are geared towards today’s students. So I would like to do that because we have to weed out a lot of the old books. And so kind of looks like we’re a little empty right now.”
Administrators have also looked at how students may feel like they do not have the chance to use the media center because their class schedule does not allow it and their teachers do not let them use the space during the period. There has been a projector added to the media center giving teachers the ability to have classes there in the future.
Otto explained, “There is currently a Spanish classroom in the media center and currently it comes down to an issue of space. I think that down the road if we’re able to accommodate all of our classes in the regular building then teachers will have the flexibility to take classes down to the media center.”
