The document provides guidelines from various sources for designing flexible school library spaces that meet the needs of modern learners. It discusses recommendations to create comfortable, technology-enabled areas for physical and virtual resources with adjustable furniture. Advice emphasizes flexible use of space, visible book displays, strong electrical infrastructure, livability over just aesthetics, and potentially outdoor spaces. Security concerns since Sandy Hook in 2012 also impact library design.

1. 4FJ
Genius is one percent
inspiration and ninety-nine
percent perspiration.
Thomas Edison
Problem
Facilities
Management
Fall 2013 LIB 620 Library Administration

2. 2
What do the guidelines say?
• The school library media program
includes flexible and equitable access to
physical and virtual collections of
resources that support the school
curriculum and meet the diverse needs of
all learners.
– Empowering Learners
III Building the Learning
Environment
Section III The Learning Space
p. 33

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Key phrase?
• . . . flexible and equitable access to
physical and virtual collections . . .

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Kentucky’s guidelines?
http://education.ky.gov/curriculum/libmed/Documents/
Library%20Media%20program%20rubric%20-
UPDATE-09.03.13.pdf
Sound familiar?

5. 5 Doug Johnson’s guidelines 1
• Libraries as social learning spaces
– Students still want to meet and learn in physical
environments. (Check any shopping mall, coffee shop, or
teen center.) Online bookstores have not killed the
physical bookstore. But like bookstores, the school
library needs to become a high-touch environment in a
high-tech world.
– Comfort and appearance are increasingly important.
Upholstered seating, flexible furniture arrangements,
and attention to aesthetics in lighting and colors help
make the library a place where students and staff want
to be.
• Power Up! / The New School Library
• October 2013 | Volume 71 | Number 2
Leveraging Teacher Leadership Pages 84-85
•

6. Doug Johnson’s guidelines 2
This article is available on Canvas
6

7. 7 Makerspaces?
• What is a Makerspace? Creativity in the Library
– Makerspaces have evolved from hackerspaces and
Maker Faires. Defining a makerspace can be
somewhat difficult due to the differences among
spaces and activities, but the emphasis is on
creating with technology.
– The maker movement in libraries is about teaching
our patrons to think for themselves, to think
creatively, and to look for do-it-yourself solutions
before running off to the store. In short, a
makerspace is a place where people come together
to create with technology.
• Submitted by Caitlin A. Bagley on December 20, 2012 -
12:06pm
• See also Transforming a School Library Into a
Makerspace and Makerspaces Take Libraries by Storm

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Doug Johnson’s guidelines 3

9. 9
Advice from Margaret Sullivan
1. Make sure your space is flexible.
– Classrooms are moving away from a “front of the
room” mentality and adapting to students’ learning
styles. Libraries need to embrace the same logic and
change to reflect the way students prefer to learn.
Flexibility is vital; traditional library furniture can be
cumbersome and make multiple seating configurations
impossible.
• Divine Design: How to create the 21st-century school library
of your dreams By Margaret Sullivan, 4/1/2011
http://www.slj.com/2011/04/buildings-design/divine-design-how-to-create-
the-21st-century-school-library-of-your-dreams/#_

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Advice from Margaret Sullivan
2. Remember, you’re not running a book warehouse
– It’s time to stop warehousing books and start
merchandising them. Take a tip from Barnes &
Noble. Make your books and magazines more
attractive (and more visible!) to students by taking
advantage of displays, mobile fixtures, signage, and
lighting.
• Divine Design: How to create the 21st-century school
library of your dreams
http://www.slj.com/2011/04/buildings-design/divine-design-how-to-create-
the-21st-century-school-library-of-your-dreams/#_

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Advice from Margaret Sullivan
3. Insist on a strong infrastructure.
– Don’t cut corners by underpowering your library. A
few wall sockets scattered around the room just
won’t cut it anymore. Media centers should be tech
central, and users need power to support their ever-growing
arsenal of electronic devices. Remember to
plan ahead, because there’s no turning back. Once
the cement floor is poured, your electrical plan is set
in, well, concrete.
• Divine Design: How to create the 21st-century school
library of your dreams
http://www.slj.com/2011/04/buildings-design/divine-design-how-to-create-
the-21st-century-school-library-of-your-dreams/#_

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Advice from Margaret Sullivan
4. Don’t sacrifice livability for beauty.
– You know those drop-dead gorgeous spaces that
grace the pages of interior design and architectural
magazines? Well, that’s not necessarily the look you
should be aiming for. A school library isn’t just an
aesthetic statement; it has to be hardworking as well.
Guests may walk in and gasp, “Wow, this is
beautiful!” But you have to ensure that it’s also an
energetic, inviting space packed with students who
are busy gathering information and exchanging
ideas.
• Divine Design

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Advice from Margaret Sullivan
5. And finally, whatever happened to the great
outdoors?
– With almost every waking minute immersed in
technology, it’s even more important to consider how to
stimulate students’ other senses. Whether or not you
agree with child-advocate Richard Louv’s Last Child in
the Woods (Algonquin, 2005), which argues that
contemporary children are increasingly cut off from
nature, it’s obvious that today’s young people don’t spend
as much time outdoors as previous generations. That’s
one good reason to create an outdoor reading patio for
your school library.
• Divine Design
• Published in 2011, 1 ½ years before the massacre at Sandy Hook
Elementary School in December 2012. What does school
security mean for design of library facilities?

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October 6, 2013 Facilities Management
Label
OK—so what
does all of this
mean for the
design of school
library space?
Label
To be or not to be,
that is the question.
William Shakespeare