After twenty-five plus years of designing more than eighty school library facilities and after authoring two books on the subject (together with my colleague Dr. Carolyn Markuson), I have at long last decided to blog on the topic. My hope is that others—school librarians, architects, and school administrators—will benefit from my experience, expertise, and research.
Why the crazy title? In the early 1980s I was the Director of Libraries at the Frankfurt International School in Oberursel, Germany. The school library was a small space that had once been the school cafeteria (sauerkraut, anyone?), and was now the place at the school to find Shakespeare and other literary treasures. It was an old-fashioned and badly furnished library, so part of my job involved planning a renovation. A few years later the school had grown significantly, and a new school addition was planned. Part of this addition included two new libraries: an elementary library and a middle/high school library. I spent many hours planning these facilities, a task for which I had virtually no training. But I was up to the challenge, and in the end, I found it exciting and rewarding. And so, I began helping other schools plan and design school library facilities. There was no turning back.
In the course of my work I do a lot of research, and I discover information that I am eager to share with others. I hope blogging will enable me to effectively disseminate what I discover on my journey.
And remember: when you have a chance to design a library, it's your time to dream.
From Alice in Wonderland
Alice: One can't believe impossible things.
White Queen: I daresay you haven't had much practice. When I was your age I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.
What seems impossible may well be possible.
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