Sandtown Middle

School Media Center

Re-design
MEDT 6461
Fall 2012
Shanna Pavlak
Broadcast Room
MS Office
C
D
P
F
I
C
FIC
B
I
O
B
I
O
R
E
F
Non-Fiction
Non-Fiction
Class Area
6
th
/7
th
/8th
REF
S
S
S
S
C
o
m
p
Comp
N
R
N
R
Old Floor Plan
Key:
CD: Circulation Desk
P: Periodicals
Comp: Computer Stations
SS: Search Station
6
th
/7
th
/8
th
: Teacher Materials
NR: New Releases
H
A
L
L
W
A
Y
HALLWAY
Storage
A/V Room
Reading
Area
Comp
Broadcast Room
MS Office
C
D
P
F
I
C
FIC
B
I
O
B
I
O
R
E
F
Non-Fiction
Non-Fiction
Class Area
6
th
/7
th
/8th
REF
S
S
S
S
C
o
m
p
Comp
Comp
N
R
N
R
Renovated Floor Plan
Key:
CD: Circulation Desk
P: Periodicals
Comp: Computer Stations
SS: Search Station
6
th
/7
th
/8
th
: Teacher Materials
NR: New Releases
H
A
L
L
W
A
Y
HALLWAY
Storage
A/V Room
Reading
Area
Add
Reading
Area
Raise to be a
little higher
Add
SS
Reading
Area
Broadcast Room
MS Office
C
D
FIC
F
I
C
FIC
R
E
F
Non-Fiction
Class Area
REF
S
S
Comp
Reading Area
N
R
N
R
Clean Floor Plan
Key:
CD: Circulation Desk
P: Periodicals
Comp: Computer Stations
SS: Search Station
6
th
/7
th
/8
th
: Teacher Materials
NR: New Releases
SP: Student Picks
H
A
L
L
W
A
Y
HALLWAY
Storage
A/V Room
C
o
m
p
Comp
REF
B
I
O
S
S
P
S
P
Non-Fiction
S
S
Reasons for Changes:
In my redesign of the Sandtown Middle School media center, one major thing I decided to change was to move the
computers across the room to the back corner. Currently, there is an exit there. Media specialist Stacy Dumas says the exit
doesnt work well there because its hard for her to see people entering and leaving through it and there is no security monitor
there. She says people often use it as a cut through too and it can be distracting since there is a class area right near there. In
my redesign, I have removed the exit and shifted the book shelves some to make room for the computers. I decided to move
the computers from their current spot at the front of the media center because right now they are right next to the entrance, a
high traffic area. I witnessed a couple classes in the media center that had to use the computers for work and noticed students
were easily distracted by other students coming into the media center. I also spoke with a Language Arts teacher about the
placement of the computers and he said he believed it would be easier to have classes work on them if they were not located
so close to the entrance.
In this section I have also moved the biography bookcases together instead of having them separated by a search station. I
have moved the second search station closer to the front of the library and away from the new computer and class station.
This will allow students who need to search for books independently to do so without disrupting classes working in the area.
Another change I made was to raise the circulation desk onto a platform. Ms. Dumas said she wanted to the desk to be higher
than the rest of the media center so she could see the library easier. I did not move the circulation desk from its current
location, however. Right now, its as close to the entrance as it can be in the given space. It is near enough to the front of the
media center that staff can welcome students and teachers as they enter. Ms. Dumas says, in its current position, it is easy to
keep an eye on everything going on in the media center, though she would like to move the desk to be perpendicular to the
door. To do so, though, would require walls and possibly rooms to be torn down. Because we are unsure if any of these walls
are load-bearing, we agreed raising the desk to be higher than the rest of the room would be a workable change.
Reasons for Changes
Continued:
Another change I made was to move the periodicals over to the old computer area. This puts them closer to other information
type sources, such as the biographies and the reference section. In the redesign , Ive also added a new reading/sitting area in
this section as well as a new Student Picks section where the library will display books recommended by students. The hope
is that this will get the students more interested in reading and give them a sense of having a say in something at the media
center.
In addition to adding this reading area in the redesign, I have also expanded the existing reading area located by the fiction
and non-fiction book cases. This provides more seating in the popular section to encourage students to come in and read. In
this area, Ive added a third Search Station for students to have greater access to search the catalog. I made the change so
students coming to the media center independently can search for books without interrupting classes by visiting stations
across the room. Also, I thought since the fiction section is so popular, there needed to be a search station in the area to make
it easier for students to find books there.
Another change I made was to move the shelves holding teacher materials off the main floor and into the A/V room where
other teachers materials are stored. Its a move Ms. Dumas, says she been wanting to make for a while, she just hasnt
gotten the chance.
In my redesign of the media center, I also included extra electrical outlets on every wall so that more computer stations could
be added in the future and so the existing stations could be moved if needed. (Sullivan, 2011 and Woolls, 2008) Its
something Ms. Dumas says is desperately needed in the media center.
Currently, the media center is set up in a mostly open way. The aisles created by the half bookshelves in the non-fiction
section and the classroom area are spaced enough apart to accommodate people in wheelchairs, an important consideration in
library designs. (Stephens and Franklin, 2007) There are already large signs indicating what each section is, which would
help hearing impaired students and also students who may have a hard time seeing small letters. The library is decorated with
various posters and signs. One thing I might include is a fish tank at the circulation desk. In a posting on LM-Net, one media
specialist says in addition to be aesthetically pleasing, a fish tank can also have a calming effect on students. (Braxton, 2012)
References
Braxton, B. (October 9, 2012). Re: TAR: libraries with fish tanks. Message posted to LM_NET electronic mailing list,
archived at http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind1210&L=LM_NET&P=R27981&1=LM_NET&9=A&I=-
3&J=on&d=No+Match%3BMatch%3BMatches&z=4
Sandtown Middle School Media Center (Online Image). Retrieved from
http://school.fultonschools.org/ms/sandtown/Pages/MediaCenter.aspx
Stephens, C.G. & Franklin, P. (2007). Library 101: A Handbook for the school library media specialist. Westport, CT:
Libraries Unlimited.
Sullivan, M. (2011). Divine Design. School Library Journal. 57(4), 26-32.
Wools, B. (2008). The School library media manager. 4th ed. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.