How K-12 Library Design has transformed from Book Smart to STEM Smart

Whether a school is guiding its students toward preschool, kindergarten, high school, or college graduation, all schools have varied design needs and specific planning requirements and processes.

K-12 Library Design Changes

It’s no secret that kids’ attention spans are not what they used to be. One way schools respond is by reinventing their libraries. A recent shift our experts have been a part of in K-12 library design is adding several modes of adaptability: moving away from static bookstacks and toward ones that can be wheeled in and out to highlight seasonal books, like for Black History Month or Presidents Day. The reasoning behind this design?  Kids are more engaged with toys and books that they haven’t seen every day, and are more likely to pay attention to stimulus in the environment that is new to them. For example, want kids to pick up a book about veterans? Wheeling out a seasonal display containing books about veterans will encourage them to do so much more than having a static shelf in the corner of the room that is there all year round.

No Longer Only a Place to Find Books

Most districts utilize online book catalogs such as Epic! and RazKids, where students can find almost any age-appropriate book they’d like from their laptops. Now that students can search by topic or genre for any book from home and in their classroom, the role of the library space becomes less about providing kids with access to all books and more about highlighting certain books, librarians teaching targeted lessons, and being a physical space that offers many uses for the school community.

Without being the only place kids can find books, schools can now utilize libraries as a teaching space to accommodate a variety of content, if they no longer have the spatial restraints of those static shelves. With more room, things like project-based learning stations can be set up, spaces specifically for pull-out small-group instruction can be added, and areas for presentations can be created.

This is true for public, private, and charter schools, which all have different needs.

“Private schools are increasingly looking to offer collaborative spaces with global learning stations, with technology used to collaborate with other schools around the world,” explains Kurt Lavaway, Director of Project Management for Colliers Project Leaders (CPL), a division of Colliers Engineering & Design. “They tend to want quiet study spaces with some research components in them. We are also seeing a lot of STEM spaces with labs integrated into libraries now.”

Colliers Engineering & Design’s Expertise

Our experts have worked on many projects that involved taking older libraries and reconfiguring them to meet modern needs. In one such project, we took a dated library that needed repair and replacement and made it significantly more adaptable. This particular school needed storage that we were able to generate from underutilized space that also accommodated mobile book racks which could be wheeled in and out for seasonal shelving displays. We were able to open up additional space for large group instruction in the library itself.  A final element considered was a high end computer gaming section of the library, offering students elite equipment, not normally available at home, to take advantage of new developed e-sports club.

Our experts meet with districts, find out their needs and hopes, and help them to achieve them. Since we are a full-service firm, we offer services that go all the way from reviewing the current facilities in a school, the referendum process, the master planning, and all aspects of the design process. We have referendum experts to work with districts on community engagement and financing to minimize local tax impact, which helps get the project passed.

“What’s exciting about revamping a school’s library is to take an idea of something that’s new and not-yet defined, and collaborating with the client by talking with them and their users to design what the next iteration of the library will be,” added Kurt.

Evolving Library Designs with Students in Mind

Some elements of the library our professionals design are completely new and derived from our individual clients’ needs. Yet, some components are consistent from school to school. Younger students need libraries to be a place of play, not just learning. Older students need this too to a certain degree, but play looks different for older students, which is where elements like e-sports come in.

Younger students enjoy brighter colors, artificial trees, and cubby areas for them to have a place to go and feel cozy but also in a way that provides supervision. Middle and high schools veer towards school colors for promoting school pride. They also need study spaces that put more emphasis on usability where coziness is more centered on distraction reduction. Our team has extensive experience ensuring that our library designs are made with child development, safety, and innovation in mind.

New Library Ideas Can Be Hard to Conceptualize

Principals, librarians, and school officials may encounter some obstacles when they want to transform their libraries. Changes are often voted on by people who have a preconceived mindset about what a library is supposed to be and getting them to buy into a new concept can be challenging sometimes. Certainly, this is made even more difficult when the concepts being proposed are not yet being done widely or perhaps are brand-new ideas.

To assist with this challenge, our team creates digitally-enhanced renderings to show what the potential can be. This is helpful both for the referendum process and for users themselves, to help them see how the changes can have a positive impact on the community and the school.

Next Steps

Colliers Engineering & Design can help you to transform your library from outdated to cutting-edge, while minimizing local tax impact, with strategic designs to add to what your teachers and students can achieve. Contact Kurt Lavaway to learn more!