LI schools creating next-generation libraries to ready students for future
Silas Wood Sixth Graders Center is located in South Huntington. The students are learning how to code, use 3D printers and experience virtual reality.
As with other Long Island schools, the space is now a place where students can work together.
Schools have open-air libraries in many places. They offer students the opportunity to record, code and video conference. You can move the furniture and have private study rooms. Although there are still books available, the large stacks of bookcases were removed.
Districts from both Nassau and Suffolk — including Amityville, Bethpage, Baldwin, Herricks, South Huntington and Valley Stream 13 — have upgraded their libraries in recent years. Some have used bond funding, while others were funded from the general funds. Other plans are also in the pipeline. A bond vote has been scheduled by the Wantagh school board for next month. It will fund a total renovation of the library media centre at the high-school.
“They [libraries] are such the hub of the entire school,” said Eastern Suffolk BOCES School Library System director Carl Vitevitch.
Vitevitch stated that libraries have been collaborative spaces since their inception. This is especially true now that higher-level research is being conducted for Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes. A library’s online database and other sources can provide resources in multiple languages — including Spanish for the Island’s growing Spanish-speaking population, he said.
“It has been changing and it is still evolving,” Vitevitch said.
In South Huntington, the Silas Wood library is now a “Makerspace” — a collaborative work space where students use both high-tech and no-tech tools. There’s a green screen where students can create background visual effects, 3D printers and a virtual reality system. Chromebooks allow students to follow the lessons.
Although there are still books stacked high, they no longer serve as the central point.
“We’ve learned that traditional libraries are no longer needed. What we need is a combination of both,” said John Murphy, South Huntington’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. “So library science is still getting students not only books, but also giving them the 21st century skills necessary to be successful once they get into high school and past high school.”
Recently, a lesson combined the traditional with the modern. Students were given Rick Riordan’s book “The Lightning Thief” and then followed the teacher in a lesson on how to craft a digital lightning bolt on their Chromebooks that will be printed on a 3D printer.
Cristian Diaz, 12, liked the lesson and has used the virtual reality system to “ride” a roller coaster in class.
“It’s really fun,” he said.
Baldwin High School has opened its new library in the high school’s building earlier this month. Officials there call it a “Collaboratory.” It’s different from the previous traditional library, said Superintendent Shari Camhi.
Five private, glass-enclosed areas are available for students to have meetings and collaborate on projects. Students can also use the video conferencing equipment to communicate with other organizations. Students can write on the tables and the walls like whiteboards, and there’s comfortable seating. Camhi stated that most of the work was done in-house.
“When you talk to the students there is a real need for a space to collaborate,” she said. “This is just the next generation of what is formally known as a library .<EN>.<EN>. It is not just about books and periodicals and online resources and tech — it is about places where people work together.”
After being completely renovated, the Herricks middle and high schools’ libraries opened this year. Michael Imondi (director of English language arts and reading services) said that the wooden bookcases have been removed to make the rooms feel more open and airy.
The furniture can be moved and the lighting has been adjusted. Whiteboard tables are available for interactive learning, and both libraries provide comfortable chairs and places to charge Chromebooks.
The high school provides 11 silent study areas. These are located in an old computer lab that has been converted into smaller rooms. The high school library also has a poster printer.
However, the digital revolution has not meant that books have been abandoned.
“We still have a good number of books,” Imondi said, “We did downsize some books, but we do believe in the importance of having access to books.”
There have also been changes at the elementary level. Two libraries in the Valley Stream 13 District, which serves pre-K-6th graders and their families, have been renovated to provide more space for student activities.
CaroleAnn Weik is a librarian who has been integrating STEM/STEAM lessons with traditional literature.
She’s led lessons in which students have built Ferris wheels from Popsicle sticks and modified paper airplanes to see how they fly.
“We have additional floor space so we can accommodate small groups and some of the STEM and STEAM activities,” she said.
Silas Wood Sixth Graders Center is located in South Huntington. The students are learning to code, use 3D printers and experience virtual reality.
As with other Long Island schools, the space is now a place where students can work together.
Schools have open-air libraries in many places. They offer students the opportunity to record, code and video conference. You can move the furniture and have private study rooms. Although there are still books available, the large stacks of bookcases were removed.
Districts from both Nassau and Suffolk — including Amityville, Bethpage, Baldwin, Herricks, South Huntington and Valley Stream 13 — have upgraded their libraries in recent years. Some have used bond funding, while others were funded from the general funds. Other plans are also in the pipeline. A bond vote has been scheduled by the Wantagh school board for next month. It will fund a total renovation of the high-school library media center.
“They [libraries] are such the hub of the entire school,” said Eastern Suffolk BOCES School Library System director Carl Vitevitch.
Vitevitch explained that libraries have always been collaborative spaces. Now, they are even more important as higher-level research for Advanced Placement classes or International Baccalaureate classes is being conducted. A library’s online database and other sources can provide resources in multiple languages — including Spanish for the Island’s growing Spanish-speaking population, he said.
“It has been changing and it is still evolving,” Vitevitch said.
Sixth-graders work on an activity in their schools’ library utilizing their Chromebooks and other digital resources at Huntington Station’s Silas Wood Sixth Grade Center, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022. Credit: Danielle Silverman
Discover new ways to learn
In South Huntington, the Silas Wood library is now a “Makerspace” — a collaborative work space where students use both high-tech and no-tech tools. There’s a green screen where students can create background visual effects, 3D printers and a virtual reality system. Chromebooks allow students to follow the lessons.
Although there are still books stacked high, they no longer serve as the central point.
“We’ve learned that traditional libraries are no longer needed. What we need is a combination of both,” said John Murphy, South Huntington’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. “So library science is still getting students not only books, but also giving them the 21st century skills necessary to be successful once they get into high school and past high school.”
Recently, a lesson combined the traditional with the modern. Students were given Rick Riordan’s book “The Lightning Thief” and then followed the teacher in a lesson on how to craft a digital lightning bolt on their Chromebooks that will be printed on a 3D printer.
Cristian Diaz, 12, liked the lesson and has used the virtual reality system to “ride” a roller coaster in class.
“It’s really fun,” he said.
This is the Baldwin High School, Baldwin Tuesday November 22, 2022.
Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Baldwin High School has opened its new library in the high school’s building earlier this month. Officials there call it a “Collaboratory.” It’s different from the previous traditional library, said Superintendent Shari Camhi.
Five private, glass-enclosed areas are available for students to have meetings and collaborate on projects. Students can also use the video conferencing equipment to communicate with other organizations. Students can write on the tables and the walls like whiteboards, and there’s comfortable seating. Camhi stated that most of the work was done in-house.
“When you talk to the students there is a real need for a space to collaborate,” she said. “This is just the next generation of what is formally known as a library .<EN>.<EN>. It is not just about books and periodicals and online resources and tech — it is about places where people work together.”
A warm environment
After complete renovations, both the high school and middle schools in Herricks opened their libraries this year. Michael Imondi (director of English language arts and reading services) said that the wooden bookcases have been removed to make the rooms feel more open and airy.
The furniture is mobile and the lighting has changed. Whiteboard tables are available for interactive learning, and both libraries provide comfortable chairs and places to charge Chromebooks.
The high school provides 11 quiet study spaces. This is where the former computer lab was converted into smaller rooms. The high school library also has a poster printer.
However, the digital revolution has not meant that books have been abandoned.
“We still have a good number of books,” Imondi said, “We did downsize some books, but we do believe in the importance of having access to books.”
Changes for young students
There have also been changes at the elementary level. Two libraries in the Valley Stream 13 District, which serves pre-K-6th graders and their families, have been renovated to provide more space for student activities.
CaroleAnn Weik is a librarian who has been integrating STEM/STEAM lessons with traditional literature.
She’s led lessons in which students have built Ferris wheels from Popsicle sticks and modified paper airplanes to see how they fly.
“We have additional floor space so we can accommodate small groups and some of the STEM and STEAM activities,” she said.
Joie Tyrrell, a Long Island native, covers education for Newsday. She has been with Newsday since 1998.