The Future of the School Library Takes Shape at St. Margaret’s

By Ryan Wood

Close your eyes and envision a school library as it is traditionally set up. What do you see?

Maybe some tables with stiff, wooden chairs for studying or group work. Definitely shelves and shelves of books to be checked out, with that familiar library smell. Depending on how far back we are willing to go, maybe even a card catalog (remember those?).

Now, walk into St. Margaret’s Library and see how the space has evolved to meet the needs of students in today’s world. Quiet work areas. Collaborative setups. Comfortable furnishings. Maker spaces demonstrating the latest educational technology.

For this generation of learners, the school library has an entirely new purpose. Consistent with the school’s culture of innovation, St. Margaret’s Library and its expert staff are at the forefront of that evolution—and plan to stay there.

“We continue to evolve our school library to ensure its important role in serving students of all ages,” said Angela Mackenzie, director of educational technology and library at St. Margaret’s. “As the way students consume and access information innovates and adapts, so does St. Margaret’s.”

It’s not just the Library’s physical space evolving to meet the times—it’s programming and resources, as well. From classroom visits by Lower School students taking on a new look, to access to resources that puts a lifetime of learning at one’s fingertips, to the many options for students to unwind, catch up on academics or collaborate on projects, the St. Margaret’s Library continues to be a central space for the Tartan experience.

The students are noticing—and loving—its modernization.

“It’s my favorite place on campus,” said St. Margaret’s senior Jordan Reder. “The Library is vital to the student experience due to the overwhelming kindness of the Library teachers and its comforting atmosphere … It is incredibly versatile, containing a silent room for studying, an open space for all students, a drink station, and the study room. Every student has been provided with what they need or want, and the Library is evidence of the immense effort that St. Margaret’s puts in for their students.”

Physical Space 

The Library Commons area, as it was in 2013 and as it is in 2023.

The Chronicle of Higher Education recently released a full-length special issue titled “The Library of the Future” which explored the innovation of libraries at colleges and universities around the country.

Specifically, it asked the question: How does a campus library stay essential, when unlimited terabytes of information, credible or otherwise, are available to anybody with an Internet connection?

“Despite worries about declining usage with the advent of the Internet, library buildings have remained a campus anchor and popular destination for students and scholars,” The Chronicle wrote. “As scholarly materials have shifted from paper to electronic forms, colleges have had to rethink what purpose a library building serves.”

The Chronicle issue focused specifically on college libraries, highlighting Lehigh University, Ohio State University, Kenyon College, Yale University and many more. Yet the point certainly applies to schools like St. Margaret’s. “As information has become available online,” the Chronicle writes, “libraries have gone through renovations to emphasize social connections, group study, and new services for students and scholars.”

Coffee and tea setup for students.

A quick tour of the Library shows how that’s certainly true at St. Margaret’s. As you enter through the familiar doors, the modernity of the St. Margaret’s Library quickly comes into focus. To your right, a coffee and tea area offers students a tempting place to take a break, enjoy a drink and recalibrate before taking on the rest of the school day. “Grabbing a hot tea on a rainy day has never failed to make things a little bit brighter,” Jordan said.

Enter the Commons area of the Library and what once was a wall of bookshelves has transformed into one of the premiere presentation spaces on campus.

Adorning the wall is a nine-screen display that can be configured in a variety of ways. Next to the video display is a 6-by-8-foot living wall, made of living plants and part of a pilot for biophilic design to bring nature indoors. Both projects were funded by the PTF Grant Enrichment program, which raises money through PTF events like the Library Luncheon, Forever Plaid All-School Fundraiser, and other initiatives throughout the year.

Beside the new presentation capabilities, the Commons area itself has seen a makeover in recent years. Couches, soft-back chairs and oversized board games make the place more inviting, and flexible and movable tables and chairs allow for reconfiguration to meet the needs of the classes and community events that frequently take place.

A Middle School computer science class in the Library makerspace.

Around the same time as these additions, the Library’s previous student studio spaces adjacent to the Commons area were renovated and transformed into a new emerging technology makerspace and classroom. Here, computer science and technology classes like the Middle School’s introduction to emerging technology class meet and a variety of technologies from virtual reality to robotics are available as learning tools. The school’s robotics team and the eSports club practice here as well. 

And, tucked away in an easy-to-miss space at the corner of the Library Commons is a new NAP (Need a Place) room. This quiet room for Upper School students is by reservation only and is a spot for students to focus, relax or work without distraction.

The NAP room’s creation came as a result of a design sprint conducted by Mrs. Mackenzie and Assistant Head of School Ryan Dahlem with Upper School students earlier this year as a brainstorm for the new Student Commons project. As the school determines the best use of the second floor of the Student Commons, students were given the opportunity to volunteer their opinions and express their preferences for the space. At the top of many students’ lists was a quiet room to rest and recharge.

Intrigued by the student input, Mrs. Mackenzie decided to pilot a quiet room in the Library.

“We transformed a small office into a NAP room with a lounge chair and other relaxing features,” Mrs. Mackenzie said. “We set up a reservation system and it has been very popular so far.”

Programming

Throughout the day, students in red sweaters are seen lining up in a row along the breezeway separating the Gateway building and Chalmers Field. There, they wait quietly for Lower School digital literacy teacher Melissa Fisher to greet them outside and usher them in for their weekly lesson.

Each Lower School homeroom visits the Library twice a week. There remains a traditional book-browsing session, where students can find a book to check out and take home for a fresh read each week.

The second visit, however, is an innovative digital literacy lesson with Mrs. Fisher. There, students engage in interdisciplinary work centered around digital responsibility, digital leadership and lessons that implement the Lower School’s United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Learning for Justice standards and grade-level social studies units.

A digital literacy lesson in the Library

Today’s students are immersed in a technology-driven world and have been since birth. As a result, digital literacy is increasingly becoming essential curriculum in a school, as students learn how technology can help them in their academic pursuits, while they also learn how to be good digital citizens and make safe, responsible and respectable decisions online.

Digital citizenship is taught to students in every division, and the Library staff has worked with the Upper School Peer Counselors to bring a student perspective to the curriculum, in particular during outreach to Middle School students.

Regular time in the Library is not just for Lower School students, though. Early Childhood School students also visit the Library regularly, engaging in storytime with Library technician Rosemary DeSa and searching among thousands of age-appropriate books to check out.

And each day at lunch, many Middle School students make their way over to the Library for device-free programming meant to provide a brain break away from screens. In addition to students unwinding with puzzles and games, students are encouraged to pursue Cricut design projects, paper circuits and maker cart creation projects during Lunch, led by Middle School Library teacher Darla Magana.

Each day, up to 40 Middle School students visit the Library during their lunch break to engage in the programming and enjoy downtime with their peers.

Resources

While St. Margaret’s Library doesn’t need as many physical books as before, the amount of information available to students is as vast as ever.

St. Margaret’s students have access to more than 50 academic databases—everything from encyclopedias, journals, magazines, videos, news wires, broadcast media transcripts, statistical data, and collections of primary sources dating back to the American Revolution.

“These are the same databases used in higher education, so our student access to resources is on par with what they will use in college,” Academic Research Technologist Stacey von Winckelmann said.  

The sheer volume of data and sources at users’ fingertips, as well as student feedback, led to the creation of two historical research methods classes taught by Mrs. von Winckelmann in the Upper School. Introduction to historical research methods honors aims to introduce students to research techniques to prepare them for college-level academic research and writing, while advanced historical research methods honors applies those skills toward a semester of student-led inquiry that emphasizes research in the real world. Often, students choose to write an in-depth research paper to be submitted to The Concord Review.

The databases are only a sliver of the information available. There are still more than 12,000 physical books in the Library for students to check out, and subscriptions to newspapers, a digital library of e-books through Sora, and an expert Library faculty are available to help navigate each source.

The Future

The Chronicle of Higher Education concluded its in-depth report with a look into what’s next for campus libraries—a future that is hard to map given the many academic, societal and technological factors at play. Yet the publication forecasts that libraries will be an important hub in academic communities for years to come, as the physical spaces are ideal gathering spots, as scholarly resources continue to grow, and as society needs experts who can identify sources of valid information.

St. Margaret’s and its Library staff recognizes and embraces the evolution of this important campus space and its ever-changing role in serving students. Their goal is to make sure the Library continues to be a relevant and enriching place for St. Margaret’s students of all ages.

“We have gone through multiple transitions over the past three years,” Mrs. Mackenzie said. “We will continue to adapt and modernize and invest in emerging technologies, while still providing the services that our students need.”