Out With the '70s In With the '40s

During the 2010-2011 school year I was told to get ready for a major remodel of my library.    The day the contractors were to meet in the library for the bidding process the town was told to prepare for a historic flood. No contractors came for bidding and the library remodel was put on hold as three schools were flooded and two subsequently torn down.

Now 18 months later the remodel is on.  Here is what will be happening to the library.

The library consists of two areas, the office and a large study room are in the 1919 portion while some tables, computers, and the book stacks are in the 1940 addition.   While the 1919 portion has been updated to 1970s and 1980s decor, the 1940 addition still contains its original cherry paneling, tables from the forties and a couple tables with the original 1919 scrollwork legs. 

A wall separating the library office from the library will be removed as it blocks the view of the library. Also, the office area will be gutted. 

 My job is to determine how to modernize the space while maintaining the integrity of the past. First to go has to be the 1970s wood paneling that we all have seen gracing the walls of many basements.  Also, the indestructible gold carpet from 1980 will see its final days in my library.  Gutting the office area will rid me of the dark oak circulation counter and cupboards. 

Blending the past into the new requires an eye for detail. The new circulation counters and office cupboards will be a cherry finish to coordinate with the 1940s cherry paneling.  I am deciding what color to stain the existing wooden tables and old wooden bench after they are sanded ( which means sanding off decades of carvings of declarations of self, love or profanity). I do not want cherry overkill. 

To design the circulation counter I searched images of libraries from the beginning of the 19th century and found a suitable one for my library the the designer used.  The wooden rail separating the security gates from the library wall will be a wooden divider that copies the 1919 art deco design on the stair bannister immediately outside the library door. Beneath the mottled gold carpet in the library entrance in front of the circulation counter is original terrazzo flooring.  That is be refurbished.  Two newly made benches will have legs that replicate the scrollwork on the 1919 tables.

The ceiling in the 1940 portion was lowered in the ‘70s during the oil crunch.  Now it will be raised three feet and finished with crown molding around the edges.   

These are just some of the changes.  There will be more.

Sock It To Me

Now I found a single black sock behind my books.  I still have not found its mate.

Reading Between the Books

There in 618.2 peeking between Your Pregnancy and Newborn Journey and Pregnancy Information for Teens: Health Tips about Teen Pregnancy and Teen Parenting was a shiny object. Reaching behind the books I pulled out a silver buckle attached to a black leather belt, size 40 -- in my stacks!  So was someone reading about parenting and decided to give up using a belt as punishment (not an uncommon method of discipline in my childhood).  Certainly it wasn’t someone preparing to become a parent.  Most likely someone was hiding it from its owner and just by circumstance stashed it behind the books in 618.2.  I can only surmise the meaning of the belt behind the books.  

I Can't Read All That

 I had another aha moment just this last year.  Once again I was helping a class find books for their research papers.  One girl, whom I know from her frequent visits to the library, was having trouble.  I was able to find a couple books on her topic, but when I showed her the books, she said that she would not have time to read them.  AHA.

I truly thought students knew that they didn’t need to read the entire nonfiction book to use it for research.  In my nonfiction book lesson, I showed students how to use the table of contents and index to find specific topics in books.  I assumed they knew they wouldn’t read the entire book.  

When I think about it, that may explain why students think using Google for research is quicker than using books. Google won’t have 100 page results as a book would have.  

Shrooms and Information Literacy

A class had just come in the library to use the OPAC, Destiny, to find books on their research papers.  I was trolling the students peeking at their computers to see if I could help them.  One student was having trouble finding information.

“Let me help you,” I said. “What are you trying to find information about?”

“Shrooms,” he said.

“Shrooms?” I asked.

“Yeah, shrooms.”

“And shrooms is what you are typing in the OPAC and you can’t find anything, right?”  AHA

The student and I talked terminology and went from shrooms to mushrooms to drugs to hallucinogens.  I was able to communicate that sixteen-year-old males were not the people who created the subject terms for the books in Destiny (or any other resources he was using).  He had to think differently when he was researching.

Through all my years of researching and teaching information literacy, the reality of the depth of the discrepancy between teenage vocabulary and research terms had not surfaced.  Yes, the importance of using correct terminology is emphasized, but I hadn’t realized why so many students struggle with finding information until I helped this teenager looking for shrooms.