Lakeside project to finish this year
Lakeside High School will introduce students to a new, modern library after the project is completed later this year.
Renovation of the school’s old junior high library and office areas is one of four major projects on campus this semester. The district committed about $ 2.4 million to the new construction, which is contracted to be completed by Jan. 3.
The $ 650,000 library renovation is the most expensive of the new projects. Development of a K- 4 play-
ground behind the primary and intermediate schools is expected to cost about $ 640,000.
Another $ 610,000 has been committed to the first major renovations of Ram Field House. The fourth project will double the size of the existing indoor facility for baseball and softball.
The library project will be one of only two work areas at the high school. An awning will be added to the west side of the building.
Principal Darin Landry said the development of a new library became a priority when the school combined the junior high and senior high sections. The library will accommodate all students in grades 8- 12, just as the rest of the building.
Landry said the first step of the transition was to group teachers by subjects instead of grades. All teachers of a specific subject, such as science, are grouped together with others in the same area regardless of grade level. All classes for English and history, the two subjects which make the most use of the library, are located closest to its new location.
The new layout encourages and facilitates collaboration between teachers in the same subject area. Landry said the design also helps younger students transition into the high school setting.
Landry approached Stony Evans, high school library media specialist, in February about planning for a new location.
“We’ve just been meeting with French Architects and getting our plan together, drawing and seeing what we needed to do,” Landry said. “( Evans) has done most of the planning. I just threw the idea at him and he took off. He’s been the one working on it the most.”
Officials discovered the old junior high office space and library were approximately the same size. The new project will connect the two areas across the old lobby of the junior high entrance.
A circulation desk will be located in front of the old entrance to the west end. The doors will be locked during the school day, but will be the main entrance for events held outside of school hours.
Evans said the school wants to build on what it has developed since the combination of the junior high and senior high sections. Evans and Landry regularly communicated with Dawn Shafer of French Architects to form the design.
“After we bring these facilities together, we can make what we already have better,” Evans said.
The library will feature a fiction side and a nonfiction side, but both will be suitable for research. Computers will be available on both sides.
Students will be able to enter each side through doors from the main hallway or through the central area around the circulation desk. The doors in the central area will allow the librarians to section off one side from the other if they want to hold an activity on one side and maintain quiet on the other.
A gaming room will feature four large televisions and game systems like Sony PlayStation and the Nintendo Wii. Evans said Lakeside has followed the lead of Garland County Library and its integration of gaming programs.
“If we can combine gaming with academics at any point, we would love to use this as a potential way to do that,” Evans said.
The area will include computers with programming software for coding. Evans said students will be encouraged to experiment with coding projects.
Lakeside hired a computer science teacher with background in programming. Additional training was provided this summer.
The computer science class was announced during the summer and 15 students signed up. Landry said more are expected to enroll after school opens.
“We are hoping that program is going to explode and kids are going to start being involved,” Landry said.
The library will also include a 3- D printer, makerspace, a cafe seating area, movable shelving and a small stage. Evans said the design and furniture will allow the school to be flexible in its use of the library.
The small stage will allow for poetry slam, presentations, speakers, lunch programs, musicians and class lessons. Each side of the library will have a large screen.
“We have a license that allows us to show movies, not just for classroom use,” Evans said. “We could do that after school.”
Landry said Evans or others like library media specialist Misti Bell and library assistant Ray Borel could oversee after- school activities. Potential schedules have not been determined. Evans said demand will drive the library’s activities.
Plans have not been finalized for the space where the current library is located.