Comments on: Chicago’s New Public/School Library Hybrid Opens Doors http://www.slj.com/2013/08/schools/chicagos-new-publicschool-library-hybrid-opens-doors/ The world's largest reviewer of books, multimedia, and technology for children and teens Wed, 18 Sep 2013 21:37:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Jen Baker http://www.slj.com/2013/08/schools/chicagos-new-publicschool-library-hybrid-opens-doors/#comment-101194 Jen Baker Mon, 09 Sep 2013 18:24:18 +0000 http://www.slj.com/?p=57709#comment-101194 I am currently the school librarian at a combined public / high school library in rural North Carolina. The arrangement benefits both the school and the public. I'm glad to see more libraries combining rather than failing to serve either population. Still, having served both as a young adult librarian and as a school librarian at the same facility, I can attest that the roles are very different and both are essential. We do have a school entrance and the students often meet in the library to work on projects, get instruction in citation, etc. or to check out books. We share a collection with the public library, but the needs of the populations are very different, so we maintain separate book budgets as well. It will be interesting to see how this concept evolves as library and school budgets continue to tighten. I am currently the school librarian at a combined public / high school library in rural North Carolina. The arrangement benefits both the school and the public. I’m glad to see more libraries combining rather than failing to serve either population. Still, having served both as a young adult librarian and as a school librarian at the same facility, I can attest that the roles are very different and both are essential.

We do have a school entrance and the students often meet in the library to work on projects, get instruction in citation, etc. or to check out books. We share a collection with the public library, but the needs of the populations are very different, so we maintain separate book budgets as well.

It will be interesting to see how this concept evolves as library and school budgets continue to tighten.

]]> By: Joy Parker Fitzgerald http://www.slj.com/2013/08/schools/chicagos-new-publicschool-library-hybrid-opens-doors/#comment-96748 Joy Parker Fitzgerald Tue, 27 Aug 2013 20:36:16 +0000 http://www.slj.com/?p=57709#comment-96748 This hybrid is not a new idea. I grew up in a rural town in New England. Woodstock, CT has had a Library in the High School for as long as I can remember (I graduated from there in 1977). The High School Campus had several buildings and the Bracken Memorial Library was on one side. The students entered through the back entrance which faced the campus buildings and the town residents usually entered through the front entrance. Then in the 1980s, when I became a school librarian, my fourth Library job in 1987 was at a middle school that had a joint Public and School Library. I was the School Librarian Media Specialist but also served public patrons if they came in before the Public Staff arrived in the afternoons. So, while I applaud the realization that it is a possibility, I just wanted to point out that it has been time tested in other places for a long time. The H.S. still has a joint library, but the middle school I taught at from 1987 to 1992 has since split into a school library and the public library which was inside the middle school, has moved out into it's own building about 10 years ago after children's safety issues in school and the growth issues determined it was more practical to build a new Public Library Space. This hybrid is not a new idea. I grew up in a rural town in New England. Woodstock, CT has had a Library in the High School for as long as I can remember (I graduated from there in 1977). The High School Campus had several buildings and the Bracken Memorial Library was on one side. The students entered through the back entrance which faced the campus buildings and the town residents usually entered through the front entrance. Then in the 1980s, when I became a school librarian, my fourth Library job in 1987 was at a middle school that had a joint Public and School Library. I was the School Librarian Media Specialist but also served public patrons if they came in before the Public Staff arrived in the afternoons. So, while I applaud the realization that it is a possibility, I just wanted to point out that it has been time tested in other places for a long time. The H.S. still has a joint library, but the middle school I taught at from 1987 to 1992 has since split into a school library and the public library which was inside the middle school, has moved out into it’s own building about 10 years ago after children’s safety issues in school and the growth issues determined it was more practical to build a new Public Library Space.

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