This year at Fairfield Warde High School, the Library Learning Commons has welcomed a new librarian, Mrs. Selk, into the school. She has brought with her new ideas for the LLC, and it has therefore undergone changes to improve the Warde community.
Mrs Selk began her career at Warde 22 years ago, when she first became a librarian. After teaching in schools such as Fairfield Woods Middle School, Riverfield Elementary School, and McKinley Elementary School, she returned to Warde this fall. Upon her return, Mrs. Selk wanted to make sure that the LLC “was a place that was inviting for everyone to come… where people were coming to learn or create things, explore, use their imaginations, research, read.”
So, a plethora of activities have been introduced to students over the past couple of months, to create a space that facilitates learning.
At the far side of the library, there is a Makerspace room that will be changing throughout the year with different activities. This past month, students have been able to go and build with Legos, or compete in the 50 Lego challenge and have their pictures hung up next to their creations. Next, students can create origami in the LLC at the Origami Station, using instruction books to make various figures. In the future, this table will rotate to become the Duct Tape Station, where Warde students can create different items with the tape. There is also a sticker mural near the entrance of the library that students can add to, building off of each others’ work.
When coming up with the layout for the Library Learning Commons, the librarians wanted to set up the tables so that students could work four to a table or independently at a single one. There are also computers for classes and student use for doing schoolwork during their free time. To provide opportunities for classes to utilize the LLC, there are two flexible classrooms where teachers can move around the tables to what best fits that class.
In addition to this, there are meeting rooms for students to collaborate with group members for a class project or to study for a test; students can utilize the room after obtaining a pass from a teacher. Along with these aspects of the library, there is also a quiet reading section with seats that students can take advantage of in the morning, after school, or during their free periods.
Another change that is coming to the LLC is that the librarians are working to organize the fiction novels into genres throughout the room, allowing students to find books easier.
The school now has a place where students can come to get work done as well as be creative in their free time, filling a much-needed gap in the Warde community.