School libraries change with times, technology
The role of libraries, particularly in schools, has shifted dramatically in recent years.
Bulky card catalogs and dated encyclopedia sets have been replaced with sleek tablets, quick wireless connections and constantly updated online databases.
At the South Butler Intermediate Elementary School library, fourth-graders tap tablets while librarian Suzanne Atwell shows them how to look up books using the online catalog.
“This lesson 10 years ago would have been with the card catalog drawers,” she said. “Now it's all online … and they don't have to search drawer after drawer.”
Students learn to look up books in the library by title, by genre or other search prompts. They visit the library about once a week to learn about library functions, and they have an opportunity to check out books.
Anna Thompson, 9, said one of her favorite books she's read this year is “The Black Stallion.”
“I get to spend time with my classmates and get to know them better,” she said of her library time.
Meanwhile, her classmates Carson Kosecki, 10, and Amber Ludolff, 9, didn't know what a card catalog was.
“It's a lot easier, what we have now,” Carson said.
The shifting role of libraries is apparent at many schools.
Susan Grossman, a librarian at Moniteau Junior Senior High School, has seen many changes at libraries over the past 30 years. She's been at Moniteau for 12 years, but worked at the Butler Public Library 20 years before that.
“I have seen quite a few changes,” she said. “When I first got the job at the public library, it was the old card in the pocket, paper cards with a little metal strip on it. That was a lot of fun because I was the circulations supervisor then.“That's gone the way of the dinosaur. We don't have a card catalog anymore. We do it online.”Moniteau's library is equipped with 30 laptop computers, 10 touch-screen computers and a variety of other amenities.But books are still a big part of the library: More than 10,000 books are checked out at Moniteau each school year. It's quite a feat, she added, considering there are only about 600 students at the school.But even looking for books has changed over time. Students can download an app on their smart device to look up books that are in their library. Most school districts in Butler County have BYOD policies, or for Bring Your Own Device, including Moniteau, Seneca Valley and South Butler.Grossman encourages students to use the library both for work and for play.“Many students use the library as a meeting place to talk with friends, play chess or checkers, watch YouTube videos or do their homework. I view it as a young adult recess,” she said.“I think it's important that kids know that the library can be used for both research and recreation,” she said.Peggy Mourer, who has been the librarian at Seneca Valley Intermediate High School for 21 years, agrees.“I think they see it more as a place to hang than they have for a long time because it's a lot brighter now, it's a lot more colorful, it's a lot more relaxing,” she said.
At the intermediate high school, there are 60 netbooks available to students, as well as a few desktop computers and tablets. The library is undergoing more transformations too, on both a physical and a rebranding front.“We're creating more collaborative spaces because that's what students utilize, even if it's just to study as a group. I've noticed more and more and more students wanting to do that. We've installed a learning lab in one section,” Mourer said.The libraries are also going to be called iHubs, places of information, imagination and innovation, she said.“It's going to be more than what you would consider a library. A library, of course, refers more to books,” Mourer said. “And it's so much more than just the books.”Seneca Valley's library services have been cutting edge for a long time. When Mourer was first hired, the checkout process was computerized. It also was one of the first in the county to have bar codes for each book using Follett software, now an industry-wide standard.
