High School Libraries Chart Varied Paths to Technology

Computer carrels at the Jesuit school accommodate independent research.

Each school administration decides for itself how it will incorporate technology into the library, and because clients now have more options, the future promises a greater variety of library configurations. "We’re seeing resources grow less dependent on hard copy and printed page as more information becomes available through electronic means such as CDs or DVDs," says Sid Bowen, a principal at Flansburgh Associates, a firm specializing in educational architecture and planning.

"Initially, the computer media centers grew, but it’s now shifting," Bowen says. "Book shelves are actually shrinking at the high school level. In our practice, we’re seeing that libraries are being built with less space, and particularly with a less typical ‘library look.’ So, there’s more room for learning spaces, whether they’re project rooms or some other type of environment, depending on the needs of the school."

Flansburgh Associates designed the new Ipswich Middle/High School, a facility for grades 6-12 completed in 2001, with each cluster of eight classrooms arranged around a "kiva," a sunken area for multi-media presentations. These media sub-centers incorporate three padded steps to allow students to lounge on the floor, an idea that has been closely associated with the Boston firm.

"It was controversial when we did it, especially at the high school level," Bowen says. "Some instructors were nervous about promoting casualness. But the feedback from the administration was that college students work that way, and kids should be acclimated to that. The demands are no less substantial in terms of performance."

Ipswich represented the cutting edge when it was designed, but designers are very aware that not all schools seek the latest technology. The curriculum always comes first. Or, as Bowen says, "It’s not finding universal acceptance; it’s finding niche opportunities." Another Flansburgh project, completed the same year, demonstrates that even schools regarded as traditional are demanding new library configurations that differ both from the old model and from the libraries that look to the latest innovations to meet their educational goals.

The new pavilion and library at Xavierian Brothers High School are very much progressive symbols, yet also carry out the Jesuit mission-a scholarly foundation resting on the tradition of individual study. The library’s modern profile incorporates the existing chapel, sited at an angle to help frame a new entrance. A lobby on one side of the library echoes the equally-sized library atrium that flanks the other side of the chapel.

The library component of the expansion includes multiple computer banks, and shelving for books and periodicals. Support spaces are located on the perimeter of the skylit reading room, and include a larger instructional classroom equipped with Smartboard technology and a faculty resource room. "The building materials are richer than those of the interesting building [and] add light and spirit to the whole notion of education," says Alan Ross, Flansburgh’s principal-in-charge for the Xavierian project. The second floor is a computer technology section, computer classrooms, and office space.

Where Ipswich emphasizes group learning, Xavierian Brothers cultivates discipline and individual study, factors that drove Flansburgh Associates to create a double-height reading room with 26 individual study carrels with power and data ports. Larger study nooks with fixed computer stations, interspersed between shelves for printed reference material, show how technology can accommodate the lone scholar even in a staid atmosphere of white maple.

The second floor of the Xavierian library holds computer classrooms and office space, which are separated acoustically from the library. Though interior windows look out onto the carrels below, the Xavierian Brothers didn’t want students on the two levels distracting one another, leading to inclusion of slats that act as visual baffles between the areas.

Bowen admits that the two projects discussed here, only a year old, don’t capture all the trends occurring in high school library design. In fact, he sees the high school as the latecomer. "The curriculum that’s the front edge of all this is middle school," Bowen says. "As middle schools are done, we’re seeing much more different outlooks on how to do not just libraries, but all spaces. I think that’s where we’re going to see the trend ultimately drive the product, first at the middle school level and finally in high school."

Bowen says the focus on creating a place where kids can carry out research or engage in projects is changing libraries as fast as technology, and is now paying careful attention to projects elsewhere in the country where media centers are being broken down to become several places, instead of just one.

"There will always be stacks," Bowen assures us. "It’s more a matter of their relationship to the building and the user and the other spaces that you would call a ‘library.’