Michael Pankonien
Staff Writer
The Coppell High School Library was refurbished this year with all new furniture and a cutting edge layout. By bringing in new furniture and adopting a more futuristic layout, the library has become the go to place for studying students.
“Most of [the furniture] has been in the library since CHS’s inauguration,” assistant librarian Jamey Dubbs said. “We’ll have 100 to 150 kids [in the library] both mornings and afternoons and the old furniture would become crowded pretty quickly.”
As the school has expanded and moved into the 21st century, the library has moved along with it. With a plethora of new chairs and couches and a more modern layout, the library created areas for students to work and concentrate without compromising on any student’s workspace.
“The idea for refurnishing the library and changing up the layout started three years ago,” librarian Michael Cook said. “[The librarians] wanted to provide a space that
would allow students to have mobility and comfort. The money [for the project] provided through a bond issue [passed in 2009].”
After brining the idea of modernizing to the CHS library, other schools in the district began to pick up on the initiative and soon the project became a district wide plan for installing 21st century facilities in Coppell’s school libraries.
“All the schools had to submit their plans on what they would do with whatever money they were awarded,” Cook said. “We submitted our plan first and so we took the lead in the direction of the project.”
The plan itself entitled two general principals: a more efficient use of space inside the library and an emphasis on vignette-like areas throughout the library where students could study and work in privacy.
The 2009 bond awarded the district with $603,000 for the “21st Century Library Facilities/Furniture/Equipment” project and $1,100,000 for the “21st Century Library Books and Materials” project.
The money was eventually spent on brand new desks, chairs, couches, and additional computers to meet the growing demands of students.
“[The furniture] was bought from a company that specializes in library design,” Dubbs said. “We coordinated with them on what we wanted to do with the space and they sent back a design and a budget.”
The space itself has been a great hit with students. With open hours before and after school, many students have begun to take advantage of the library’s helpful study areas.
“The library’s great,” Junior Hilton Hardie said. “I love the new corners and the way they’ve added privacy to the work areas. I work in [the library] all the time now.”
One new effect of the library’s new layout is that is provides the feel being more spacious. By moving the 10 computers that were located in the middle of the library to the wings, that space has been used for making the vignette study areas now in place.
“It looks like we’ve added a lot of new computers but we’ve only added a few,” Dubbs said. “That’s the point of the new design: to maximize how the library uses its space.”
The library was not the only benefactor from the library’s new import of furniture. Many teachers were able to scoop up the older furniture for there own rooms. IB and GT English teacher Susan Creighton for instance was able to inherit two couches, four chairs, and a table from the library.
“I love [the new furniture],” Creighton said. “I’ve got enough seating for more than half my class. And we rotate over a spot every Wednesday so that everyone gets a turn.”
Thanks to these donations, the library redesign has not only benefited the library but teacher’s class rooms as well.
