From the Campfire to the Holodeck (2014) is David Thornburg’s updated work on his theory of the primordial learning metaphors and how they fit in with today’s modern educational spaces. I’m currently researching and writing for book #2, which will be about learning space design and libraries (more info soon). In just about every book … Read more
Why I love Copernicus Carts In setting up a makerspace in my media center, I’m constantly on the lookout for effective, flexible storage solutions for the myriad of supplies we have. I think I’ve found one of the best ones out there in Copernicus. I started with one Book Browser Cart (similar to this one) … Read more
(Post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using them, I get a small commission that helps support running this blog) How to Create a Floorplan in Excel Confession time: I’m a slight spreadsheet nerd. My dad worked for IBM and I remember seeing him working on spreadsheets on our home computer at a … Read more
The Language of School Design The Language of School Design: Design Patterns for 21st Century Schools, is a fantastic, well-designed book that takes a broad look at what makes a 21st Century School a modern learning space. They break these ideas down into 29 well-researched Design Patterns. Included with each of the patterns are examples … Read more
Figuring out the Design Problems in Your Space In my latest post at AASL Knowledge Quest, I focus on how to identify the various design problems in your space and how to advocate for changing them. Check out this preview below: Many of us are rethinking and redesigning our library spaces. We have visions of … Read more
Library Design Inspiration: How to Find it When rethinking and redesigning our library spaces, many of us tend to focus on looking at other school libraries for ideas and inspiration. However, there’s quite a few other learning environments and resources we should consider when planning our spaces. Some are more traditional than others, but all … Read more
6 Active Learning Spaces My latest post over on AASL Knowledge Quest focuses on six different types of active learning spaces in school libraries. The post was inspired by a section of the book Get Active (my review here) as well as a recent presentation I’ve been doing on transforming library spaces called Making Your Library … Read more
Get Active: Reimagining Learning Spaces for Student Success I got my copy of Get Active: Reimagining Learning Spaces for Student Success at ISTE 2015 this summer in Philadelphia. I love reading about and studying learning space design theory. I truly feel that innovative learning environments can transform how our students learn. This book is an … Read more
Since I became a media specialist, I’ve had the honor and privilege of attending my state media specialists conference, FAME, every year. (You can find my posts on 2014, 2013). Those last two were some of the first times I blogged professionally. Last year’s FAME conference was my very first time presenting anywhere. This year’s FAME … Read more
Transform Your Library Space Recently, I’ve been looking back through photos of my media center at Stewart Middle Magnet from the past five years… As I look back over these photos, I’m struck by how the space slowly evolved over this span of time. It’s easy to just focus on all the big sweeping changes we … Read more