Is the Capital High School Library a solid one?
By Zachary Prince
Edited by Oscar Ferko
Libraries are vital to the learning system as a whole. They provide raw information of all sorts completely free of cost. Their usage is ubiquitous in America if not the entire globe; however, due to a lack of readership and usage in general, they’re declining rapidly. The Capital High School library is rather well known among Capital students, you can get to it through the commons, high school students frequently have to go there for English projects, and it’s overall just a main landmark of Capital. This can raise the worry that Capital’s library can be shut down.
Usage in libraries can rapidly decrease and lead to closure. The University of Toronto’s (UT) libraries had a drastic annual usage reduction from 5 million to less than 2 million from 2000 to 2014. Loss of usage can lead to impending budget and funding decreases. This statistic is daunting because according to the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), UT’s library system is the largest in all of Canada and has millions of resources sourced and provided from it for free. The sudden shrinkage of usage entails fears for libraries around the world.
Despite this, it is doubtful that the CHS library will ever be liquidated or terminated. According to Project for Public Spaces, (PPS): “A good library offers a mixture of community services, encourages dialogue with patrons, showcases history, possesses many attractions, and changes decorations with the calendar”.
Capital High School comfortably meets these criteria. “The library houses the afterschool tutoring program on Wednesdays until 3:30, so for 1 hour, sometimes longer,” states Librarian Kristi Bonds. “I don’t run it. It’s the paraeducators in the building that stay here after school to help students.” The library also has a book club, Battle of the Books, and occasional author visits and conferences.
“On our display, windows that face out in the commons, every month we celebrate the traditional months,” Kristi Bonds states. “The displays are themed for the months, and we put related books and associated traditional heritage decorations so that they’re truly recognized.” This small step can help show support for groups, whilst simultaneously showcasing books that possess history about groups of people. The library also owns attractions like bean bags, Chromebook chargers, synth instruments, chargers, and a printer.
The library also helps in the teaching field: “I use the CHS library for DVDs when I’m showing movies in class,” says CHS English teacher, Galen Disston. “I also use it to help students reference materials, like for the research paper the 9th graders do.” The library has also aided in teaching certain lessons like using MLA citations or academic databases during projects where students are taken to the library.
A library should also be a quiet safe space: “Yes I do because it is most often quiet,” says high schooler, Arwen Parker. “It’s also a good place to sketch and read to pass the time.” Highschools with all their noise and chaos can make students overstimulated or just simply annoyed, a peaceful beacon like a library can be very valuable.
Finally, one of the most important things a library can do is be open to suggestions. “I believe that a lot a large chunk of my budget should be based on student requests for pleasure reading or research purposes,” says Librarian Bonds. “Students can submit requests through a Google form, the link of which is on the Library’s website page.” Being open to new ideas and ways that can help attract more students to the library is a magnificent way to reach out to more students and patrons by letting them know that their interests are valued by the library, and lots of the time students have great recommendations.
Overall, it doesn’t seem likely that the Capital High School library will be shut down any time soon. To quote Mr. Disston: “In a Starbucks, you need to buy a coffee to be in there, whereas in a library you don’t need to buy anything to be there. It’s a place for us all to just go and be.”
Sources:
Association of Research Libraries
