The media center was closed during the week before winter break to give staff time to sift through outdated books and recuperate open space, the first step in developing the library into a more interactive and adaptable space.

“This is the beginning of a long term movement to update the media center and make it a space that students gravitate towards,” MCPS library media programs supervisor Andrea Christman said.

Christman, along with a team of six others from Central Office, came to Whitman to help the media staff with the first part of the process: a “weeding” in which librarians evaluate their materials and decide what to keep and what to get rid of.

“There a number of factors we consider when deciding whether to keep a book or send it off,” Whitman media specialist April Moyo said. “Is it something that’s used for instruction? Is it something that students are reading for pleasure outside of the classroom? How old is it? Is it being circulated? When was the last time it was checked out?”

Before Whitman undertook the project, the library’s repertoire was the oldest in the county, with the books found as old as 1919. The average print date of all the library books used to be 1987. In the one week it was closed, it shot up to 1994.

“You want [the library] to reflect what teachers are using in the classroom, but you also want it reflect interests of students,” Christman said. “In a school like Whitman, where students have very rigorous classes and a lot of extracurriculars, reading takes a backseat. We want to make sure that the collection’s being taken care of and presented in a way that entices people to read.”

This year, the media center is giving the extra books to Baltimore public schools. In the past, books discarded have been donated to Books for Africa, a non-profit organization that ships and distributes books to schools in a number of African countries.

Now that the books themselves have been sifted through, the staff will be working to make sure the layout and space of the library itself is both more functional and appealing.

“In twenty first century media centers, we like to have a variety of spaces,” Christman said. “We look at flow: can people move in this space without a lot of obstruction?”

Bookcases emptied entirely by the sweep were moved out to make room for a more relaxing seating area. Newspaper and magazine carts, which used to obstruct the sightline across the library, were cleared. With newfound space on their shelves, books are placed with covers facing outward, mimicking a bookstore like environment.

“Teenagers are attracted to visuals,” Moyo said. “Because they’re surrounded by it. Nowadays, we’re competing with your phones and social media too.”

The Whitman Education Foundation approved the media center’s request to receive new tables, and staff plan to also replace the chairs with more lightweight and mobile versions, so that the spaces are flexible and easily adjustable for the needs of different groups or program activities.

Though there are no definitive plans at this time, the staff hopes to follow trends in other more updated county libraries, such as replacing desktop computers with a Chromebook lab, designating an area to serve as an Internet Cafe, or having a crafts or robotics center.

“I want to turn it into a space that’s not just to log on, print and go,” Moyo said. “I would really like to have more clubs or programs. Maybe we can screen a movie, or maybe we can have a Books with Breakfast—something that gets students in here and reading.”

But because the refresh effort is not an MCPS update, money and practicality is a notable restriction; Moyo is currently working with the PTSA, Central Office and principal Alan Goodwin to find other sources of funding.

“Whenever we do this we have to look at what stuff costs,” Christman said. “Everything is really expensive, so we want to do things that make sense and that are going to be more conducive to the instructional program, not just sort of frivolous.”