Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 5, 1994 TAG: 9405050110
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NANCY GLEINER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
More than 20 years after a better facility was recommended for the school, the library in the school's new wing officially opened during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in March. An open house and tour of the new wing will be held Tuesday at 7 p.m. as part of the scheduled PTA meeting.
Blueprints for the library have been drawn up more than once, but, for various reasons, including lack of funding, construction did not begin until last June. In the meantime, "the space was very crowded and inadequate" for the 406 students, said Principal David Trumbower.
"In the old library, books were all over the place and were piled too high for pupils to reach," Trumbower said. With more than 10,000 books now on the shelves, there is still room for many more.
The top-floor library includes large windows with built-in window seats overlooking the surrounding mountains. Bean bag chairs create comfortable reading spots, and child-sized tables and chairs intermingle with full-sized seating for older students.
A computer lab, formerly housed in a trailer, and a professional library for teachers are adjacent to the main library. A large room for instruction and conferences and an audiovisual room complete the complex. The bottom floor of the wing houses three kindergarten classrooms.
"Having added room helps to organize things better," said Carol Crawford, the school's librarian. "Everything is much more accessible now."
The facility is so new and different that Crawford is planning an in-service meeting to familiarize teachers with the area.
Crawford hopes to use proceeds from a book fair to add more computers. The library has one central circulation computer, two catalog stations (computers used to locate books and other materials), a CD-ROM that includes an encyclopedia and a modem.
Crawford also hopes to upgrade the school's computerized accelerated reader program in which pupils earn points for reading selected books and answering questions correctly.
The book check-out system was already on computer.
A rear entrance to the library allows the area to be used for night meetings while the rest of the school remains secured.
Trumbower said ideas and suggestions from parents, faculty and staff members were incorporated into plans for the space. Parents and other supporters attended Board of Supervisors' meetings to lobby for funding.
"This was a real community project," Trumbower said. "It is a real source of pride for all of us."
Jo Chamberlain, librarian at the school for 21 years, was a major force behind the library. She and Superintendent Bayes Wilson used to joke that neither of them could retire until the school's library was finished.
"I had a vision that the dedication of the library would be my retirement party," Chamberlain said. Her vision was not far from reality.
Chamberlain moved to Lancaster last October, never realizing her dream of working in the new facility. Wilson's retirement is just weeks away. But they shared the scissors at the recent ribbon-cutting ceremony.
"It felt like going to a child's graduation," she said about the dedication. "I was partly teary-eyed, but mostly proud."
by CNB