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How a School Library Increased Student Use by 1,000 Percent

How a School Library Increased Student Use by 1,000 Percent
Listen to the full interview: Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 51:45 — 71.4MB) Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Read Transcript Last year at Big Walnut Middle School in Sunbury, Ohio, there were some days when fewer than ten students passed through the library doors. Just like in so many other schools, students and teachers had a growing number of resources available to them through tablets, Chromebooks, e-readers and interactive whiteboards, so they no longer needed to visit the library like they once did. Some schools have addressed this problem by converting their libraries to makerspaces. But Big Walnut principal Penny Sturtevant had a vision that was a bit different from the makerspaces she was seeing. As she began the process of reimagining the space, Sturtevant asked me to serve as a consultant. So how did it all turn out? To begin redesigning the space, Kitchen did a clean sweep. “You can’t have things that are in one spot,” Kitchen says. Jennifer Gonzalez

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This blog post explains not only what the library redesign involved in terms of furniture and technology, but also the thought process behind making the library less of a makerspace and more of an extension of the classroom. The article also explains how teachers and students utilize the space on a daily basis. by arichvalsky Nov 1

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