With the first day of school a scant three weeks away, Port Byron Central School District leaders are working hard to finish a brand new research space in Dana L. West Jr.-Sr. High School.
Jill Connor / The Citizen
Boxes with labels of assorted magazines, chairs, tables, and parts of shelves and bins that will be filled with books sit in the room that will be the fifth through 12th grade library for Dana L. West Jr.-Sr. High School in Port Byron.
Boxes with labels of assorted magazines, chairs, tables, and parts of shelves and bins that will be filled with books sit in the room that will be the fifth through 12th grade library for Dana L. West Jr.-Sr. High School in Port Byron.
During the summer months, while students were in recess, school leaders and construction crews set a plan into motion to create a new library in the jr.-sr. high school, now located on the second floor of the building next to the gymnasium.
In a word, the point of this new library for Superintendent Neil O'Brien is “consolidation.”
Until just last year, the district maintained three schools, all of which are on the same campus on Maple Avenue. Leslie B. Lehn Middle School and Dana L. West High School each had their own libraries, though there was only one librarian that traveled between them.
But that building configuration changed last fall, when the district dissolved the middle school and realigned grades seven through 12 to create Dana L. West Jr.-Sr. High School.
Even with the new setup - a change O'Brien said at the time was due to declining enrollment and a push to use staff more efficiently - the district maintained the two library system, one for grades five and six and the second for the higher grades.
The new library, O'Brien said, is just a continuation of that realignment.
“Our population is decreasing,” he said. “The number of kids the library will be serving will eventually be the same as when we had separate libraries.”
Rather than embed the library renovations inside a capital project - through which the district receives reimbursement from the state - the district is using money from the general fund to pay for the work. The cost is approximately $75,000.
O'Brien said the district saved the money and “programmatically we wanted to make this shift.”
The shift, he believes, will provide a more efficient use of resources. The entire collection can be found in one centralized location. New furniture and shelving is currently on order and is due to arrive before school begins. And, though this was planned before the relocation, the library will have new Apple computers for student use.
But that is not the only reason why having one research space will ultimately benefit students. While Library Media Specialist Kelly Cullen had to travel between the two libraries, now she will be stationary, providing students from all grade levels greater access to resources and materials.
For middle school students, “I'm hoping that this is going to improve and increase their use of the library, not just for school work, but for personal interest reading,” she said. “I'm kind of hoping that we're going to improve our literacy rate, increase the students' interest in reading because when they are not here at weekly intervals, at that age they kind of lose interest.”
And for high school students, Cullen believes she will be able to provide more advice and insight when it comes to research projects.
“I'll be available for whoever needs to research,” she said.
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
In a word, the point of this new library for Superintendent Neil O'Brien is “consolidation.”
Until just last year, the district maintained three schools, all of which are on the same campus on Maple Avenue. Leslie B. Lehn Middle School and Dana L. West High School each had their own libraries, though there was only one librarian that traveled between them.
But that building configuration changed last fall, when the district dissolved the middle school and realigned grades seven through 12 to create Dana L. West Jr.-Sr. High School.
Even with the new setup - a change O'Brien said at the time was due to declining enrollment and a push to use staff more efficiently - the district maintained the two library system, one for grades five and six and the second for the higher grades.
The new library, O'Brien said, is just a continuation of that realignment.
“Our population is decreasing,” he said. “The number of kids the library will be serving will eventually be the same as when we had separate libraries.”
Rather than embed the library renovations inside a capital project - through which the district receives reimbursement from the state - the district is using money from the general fund to pay for the work. The cost is approximately $75,000.
O'Brien said the district saved the money and “programmatically we wanted to make this shift.”
The shift, he believes, will provide a more efficient use of resources. The entire collection can be found in one centralized location. New furniture and shelving is currently on order and is due to arrive before school begins. And, though this was planned before the relocation, the library will have new Apple computers for student use.
But that is not the only reason why having one research space will ultimately benefit students. While Library Media Specialist Kelly Cullen had to travel between the two libraries, now she will be stationary, providing students from all grade levels greater access to resources and materials.
For middle school students, “I'm hoping that this is going to improve and increase their use of the library, not just for school work, but for personal interest reading,” she said. “I'm kind of hoping that we're going to improve our literacy rate, increase the students' interest in reading because when they are not here at weekly intervals, at that age they kind of lose interest.”
And for high school students, Cullen believes she will be able to provide more advice and insight when it comes to research projects.
“I'll be available for whoever needs to research,” she said.
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
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stick wrote on Aug 19, 2009 8:10 AM: