During summer break, the library started the process of re-labeling, shifting, sorting and shelving their books. Now, after six months of renovations the library finally opened all sections to students for book check out.
Jennifer Alaniz, the Library Media Technician, took charge of the changes.
“In order to align with all the schools within Sanger Unified, we have updated our Genre labels with eye-catching images and text. We’ve also reorganized the section into alphabetical order by genre, adding a brand new genre, “Verse!” In our Verse section you will find novels written in a poetic format, generally reluctant readers gravitate towards these types of novels,” Alaniz says.
By switching out the old for the new, these fixes “address the needs of color impaired students and help patrons transition from lower-grades through high school,” Alaniz adds.
Immediately upon entering the fiction area within the library, you may notice the color coded labels swapped for ones with each genre written along with a descriptive symbol.
Melina Campana, one of the library aides, says it “makes shelving way easier and it looks cool.”
“This change was due to a unanimous vote among the School District Library staff. It addresses the needs of color impaired students and helps patrons transition from lower-grades through high school,” said Alaniz.
The Library TA’s and staff worked through this project the entire first semester and as of February 14th all sections were open to be read through.
Alaniz calls the scrapping and swapping labels off the books “daunting’ due to the 14,000 titles in fiction that needed repair.
“When you have 26,000 books, organization can be quite daunting. Every book in the fiction section had to be pulled off of the shelf, re-labeled, sorted and then placed back on the shelf. We have a great library media team that worked countless hours on this project,” Michael Hamilton, Vice President, says.
Campana was tasked with spine cleaning (wiping the residue of the glue off the spines of the books after a label was taken off).
Campana says the task “became really repetitive after a while.”
“However there was also processing new books and redacting old ones, as well as shifting to make space for more books,” Campana adds.
As a process that took a lot of time, some of the more difficult parts relied on organization.
“The most difficult part was keeping track of the tasks that had to be done or that were already done. For example, when spine cleaning we made a system where we would use a piece of blue tape to mark when a shelf was done, however at some point we stopped following it and we just had to check whether the spine was sticky,” Campana says.
“Personally, I enjoyed redacting and processing books. It was a task that I could do sitting down and that had clear steps for me to follow, so I enjoyed the simplicity of it,” Campana adds.
Alaniz reflects on the overall experience through this project by saying, “I love being able to get to know the library floor better, the process was long but it gave us all the chance to become more familiar with our collection, and it’s so convenient and rewarding to be able to help a patron to find what they are searching for easily and efficiently.”
Hamilton voices, “I LOVE the new Genre-fied Fiction section. Casual readers often have a hard time navigating through any library to find the right book. With our fiction now organized by genre, students can find books based on their current mood or interest, instead of scanning thousands of books alphabetically.”
Though tedious at times, the changes were ones followed through with hopes of longevity.
“I already see the benefit when explaining to students where they can find certain titles, the organization makes more sense, and the labels are hard to misread. I have a daughter in middle school right now, who is an avid library patron, and I love the idea of her knowing what to look for when she enters any library within our district,” Alaniz says.
“I love that our library is an open space that is inviting for readers and non-readers alike. Our LMC Team works hard to come up with new, creative ideas that welcome all of our Apaches into the library. In the last few months, we’ve hosted a shoe cleaning class and a hands on demonstration of types of music media including CDs, cassettes, and vinyl. Our LMC Staff also works with teachers to help enhance their lessons through literature and technology,” says Hamilton.
The library staff continues to work their way through modifications, by weeding out their Non-Fiction section, “which is the process of getting rid of older/out-of-date books and making room for new titles,” says Alaniz.
For now the library staff “invites every student and staff member to come by and visit our fiction section, along with the rest of the library collection, there is something for everyone! We also host a variety of events and activities in the Library, stop by and check out what’s going on, the Library staff is always happy to help!”
