Our school library serves the reading, learning, information, and technology needs of our entire school: grades 9, 10, 11, 12 (1,826 students; 140 teachers). We are an urban school near a high-tech business area and multiple universities.
Our students are diverse: many come from low socio-economic backgrounds, and some are affluent; some move directly into employment, but many will attend college; and reading abilities vary from reluctant or struggling to advanced.
We have large academically gifted populations, as well as large EC and ESL populations.
Our school library works to support various students’ learning styles and teachers’ instructional preferences by creating diverse and accessible spaces for learning: whole class instruction, small group collaborative study, individual reading for enjoyment.
My Project
We are transforming our School Library into a Learning Commons. The Learning Commons fosters a collaborative approach to learning by integrating books, technology, and support into a comfortable and accessible space in order to provide students and teachers with a flexible environment for instruction, interaction, and inspiration.
One of the primary characteristics of a Learning Commons Library is flexibility, and our students need the materials listed in this project to create flexibility.
Being able to easily and frequently move bookshelves from one location to another is essential to accommodate the diverse needs of our learning community. New arrangements for promoting reading, making room for whole class instruction and community events, separating spaces for small group work, and improving visibility are just some of the benefits that come with having movable bookshelves.
Our current bookshelves are very heavy and next to impossible to move. The next logical step in moving us to a Library Learning Commons is to add wheels to the bottom of our current bookshelf units (new bookshelves are 10 times the cost of adding wheels to current bookshelves).
This is the second phase of making our bookshelves moveable. We have added wheels to a bookshelf with success, and now we need the parts to add wheels to our bookshelves of varying configurations. Our student and staff volunteers are ready to do the assembly work once receiving parts listed in this DonorsChoose project. Please pass the word, and thank you for helping our students!
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. B. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.