Change is on the horizon

Should the library have a coffee bar?

“If I had it my way, we’d have Starbucks,” O’Reilly said when asked about the idea, which was initially proposed and supported by Papa. “But I don’t know.”

It’s a bold idea. Its likelihood of actual implementation may be rather low. But, nonetheless, the mere possibility is a symbol of the innovative direction in which the media center is moving. Papa, O’Reilly and others hope to create a comfortable, relaxed space that will span the library and annex and become a gathering space for students.

According to Dr. Dennis Perry, East’s principal, coffee is a drink for adults, which may make its offering at East less probable. Instead, the media center might move in the opposite direction of adult offerings: it may evolve to become more like the libraries found in middle schools.

“I think of libraries almost like a sacred space,” said Skye Silverstein, the library media specialist at Cherry Hill’s Rosa International Middle School.

Silverstein said that she has worked to cultivate a community space in her school library. The centerpiece, she emphasized, remains books: Rosa’s library has over 15,000 of them. Like East’s library, Rosa’s has thousands of eBooks and databases. But where the two libraries diverge — and where there are opportunities for East to learn from Rosa — is in the space itself.

“In our library, we got a grant a couple years ago to create a mindfulness area, so we have plants and a water fountain,” Silverstein said. “It’s an area where people can relax in cozy chairs… They can either read, sit quietly or connect with some friends there. It doesn’t have to be silent all the time.”

Rosa’s library also features a “Maker Space” — a room full of LEGO bricks, building blocks, and other creative tools for students to use. Silverstein said she sees the space as one in which students can take a break from technology and work with their hands. Alongside the mindfulness space, some digital resources and, of course, a collection of books, the Maker Space is part of a library that Silverstein described as “flexible.”

“It responds to the needs of its community,” she said, offering the mindfulness space as an example because it “came out of the social emotional needs that were really exacerbated by the pandemic.”

The library’s flexibility can sometimes be literal: its furniture can move around and the space can adapt to play host to events of all kinds. Events early this year included an archaeology workshop and a Q&A with a children’s book author. The library has space suited to serve teachers and their classes for studying, too. This kind of library really has it all.

Back at East, O’Reilly has high hopes to create a space that, similarly, will have everything students need to succeed. This year, she began waiting to receive funds that have been allocated for East’s library as part of a 2022 bond referendum in which voters approved spending $363,000,000 on improvements to the district’s schools. For decades, Cherry Hill schools were underfunded by the state of New Jersey, leading to outdated and crumbling infrastructure in some schools. Now, with millions of dollars flowing in to improve the school buildings, East’s library is ready for an upgrade.

“I hope that we can make better use of [the space] for the sake of our kids and mold it into what our students need,” O’Reilly said.

Together with Greenblatt, Papa, Perry and other stakeholders, O’Reilly is working to develop a new vision for the school library at East. Once funding comes in and an architect is assigned to projects at East, she will work with the architect to formalize plans and execute her vision for the space.

O’Reilly recalled that when Rosa’s library was built, multiple companies that specialize in library design were involved and laid out proposals for the space. She hopes to similarly bring in experts who can make proposals regarding furniture, technology, and other features.

“A student union opportunity, that’s the hope,” Perry said when asked about plans for the library space and their resemblance to student unions commonly found in college settings.

According to Perry, the annex’s current, 2022-2023 setup is a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pandemic restrictions necessitated the creation of additional space for students to eat lunch, leading to the annex housing lunch tables as the majority of its furniture and transforming into somewhat of a de facto cafeteria.

Now, a new transformation can occur: Perry envisions new, flexible furniture and seamless integration of technology in the library and annex. The annex, with its large size and open floor plan, could serve as an effective space for hosting meetings. Perry is working with technology experts in the district to organize the installation of technological tools that could include large-screen televisions, a microphone and speaker system, and any other items needed to facilitate meeting elements like presentations and Q&As.

In addition to the plans for internal transformation, the annex is undergoing external changes in order to better integrate it with the original library space. Years ago, a wall was put up between the two spaces. As part of the new improvements to the library, O’Reilly planned to take it down and open up the connection between the library and its annex. Ultimately, the wall’s removal did not have to wait for the coming changes — instead, it was removed after it was determined to create an egress violation, O’Reilly said. Thus, in an unexpected way, the library’s transformation has already begun.

From ergonomic furniture to state-of-the-art technology, the future is coming quickly in East’s library. The upcoming changes reflect how some schools are working to adapt, not cut, libraries’ place in the modern educational landscape.