On 11/29, Coronado’s media center received a both an online donation and a check from Academy Bank, resulting in approximately $2,600 dollars for the library to be renovated! Coronado’s library, though a highlight of the school, has sadly been lacking in updates. However, Mrs.Garrison, the library assistant, has been beginning the process, paving the way for a whole new library!

“The first piece of the funding came from donorschoose.org, which is a great organization. The bulk of the funding was a charitable donation from Academy Bank. When the committee of Academy Bank met, they looked over my explanation of why I wanted to update the library, the changes I was going to make, and what the money was going to be used for. They certainly found value in the educational and collaboration purposes of the remodeling, because they approved it immediately! They saw that we were going to better the community of Coronado.”

Mrs. Garrison has been working on renovating the library space since early October, and has made many considerable changes to the performance of the library already! Both aesthetics and functionality have severely been improved since her work started.

“Much to everyone’s happiness, we have already began the process by getting rid of the taxidermy. So those are gone, and now the library feels so much more open! And we’re starting to repurpose the seven large bookshelves. The bookshelves aren’t very conducive to finding books you want, checking books out, and that’s the reason we’re here is to give the community access to books.”

Though we were up to the normal standards of a highschool library, the media center had gone through the library inventory and purged many books.

“We were pretty much up to standards of the quantity of books we should have. However, they recommend that the average age of a book, or the time where it’s still relevant to the library’s circulation, is five years. When we started taking books out, Coronado’s average book age was thirty-seven. So when you’re looking at information that’s relevant to your studies, those books are no longer accurate, a book from the seventies is going to make your studies problematic.”

“Even fiction is something that changes with relevancy, granted the information may not need to be revamped because it’s fiction, but people’s interests change. Series like Harry Potter stay classics, but there’s only so many books like that we’d had. Taking away books may seem really upsetting, but we want more people to be interested in the books.”

Mrs. Garrison, much like the rest of the media center staff, wants the best for Coronado students. With the revisions to the library, she hoped to create a space where everyone feels interested and welcome.

“The goal here is to bring in current and relevant books, and take out five of the bookshelves, and only leave the outside ones. We’ll have new furniture, new tables, new chairs, and we’ll just make it a really cool area where people can reside. You’ll be able to look at all of the books, instead of needing to walk down closed off aisles. We’ll be able to take out all of the unnecessary furniture, and make it a really open space.”

Though these plans are set in stone, and are currently in fruition, there are still some things being brainstormed and developed for more renovations.

“Eventually, we also hope to make some other space in the library into a ‘makerspace’, though I can’t make any promises. Hopefully, with enough pieces of funding, we’ll be able to get interactive equipment and items that people can use, like board games. The interactive equipment would be things like Promethean touch boards, possibly a Promethean style touchscreen board. It’s like a giant computer screen on a tabletop. Maybe even a 3D printer! Though, I still can’t make promises. We want a place where kids can relax, but we also want there to be things that can also stimulate your mind.”

Though there are so many wonderful ideas that the media center is currently bringing to life, but there are still many more things that can happen in the library, and the library staff would love your input!

“I’m really into student involvement, and student ownership of the library. When students walk into the library, I want them to feel like it’s theirs. I want to see student art, jewelry, ceramics, things like that are pieces of the school that we want in the library. Our wonderful students in woodshop and art have helped create the Tardis on the circulation desk, they’re making the plaque to commemorate the donation. We want to make this a space that students feel like they have a part in. We want your help!”

Please come in and share your ideas for Coronado’s ever-growing library! It doesn’t have to be an official meeting, you can just bring it up to Mrs. Garrison, who is in the library throughout the week, near the mid-lab. Coronado is a wonderful school that deserves the funding and staff that influence us to grow, and we couldn’t be happier to have people like Mrs. Garrison who want the spaces that we go to every day to be a great part of our school careers!