AASL Post: 6 Amazing Books to Inspire Your Library Space Design

AASL Post: 6 Amazing Books to Inspire Your Library Space Design | Want to change up your library space? Check out these books for some great recommendations.

I’ve been studying library space design a lot the last few months.  I’m currently working on a book for ISTE, tentatively titled Reimagining Library Spaces, that will be out sometime in the fall.  As I’ve been going through research, I thought it would be great to share some of my favorite learning space design books … Read more

Read this Book: From the Campfire to the Holodeck

From the Campfire to the Holodeck - David Thornburg's amazing work looks at four primordial learning metaphors: campfires, watering holes, caves and life. He discusses why each one is essential for student learning in our schools.

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

4 Reasons Why I Love Copernicus Carts in Makerspaces

4 Reasons Why I Love Copernicus Carts in Makerspaces | Finding the perfect makerspace storage solution can be tricky. I now have three Copernicus carts and they've revolution storage and accessibility in our makerspace.

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

How to Create a Floorplan of Your Space in Excel

How to Create a Floorplan of Your Space Using Excel | In this tutorial, learn how to hack Microsoft Excel to create a floorplan of your space. This is an excellent tool for rethinking and redesigning learning spaces, including classrooms and libraries.

  (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

Read this Book: The Language of School Design

Read this Book: The Language of School Design | In this amazing work on learning space design, the authors identify 29 different design patterns for 21st century schools. Included are many pictures, graphics and examples of the 29 design patterns. Some of these patterns include: cave space, daylight, connection to community, and indoor-outdoor connection. This is a fantastic book to inspire changes in our learning spaces to make them more conducive to 21st century learning.

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

How to Identify and Reframe Design Problems in Your Library Space

How to Identify and Reframe DESIGN PROBLEMS in your library space | When looking at our library spaces, we can often intuitively tell when something is wrong. By identifying these problems and reframing them in a way that focuses on their effects on students, we can advocate for change.

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

How to Get Library Design Inspiration: 6 Places to Visit

How to Get Library Design Inspiration: 6 Places to Visit | Many people think that the main place to get ideas for library space design is in other school libraries. However, we have much to learn from other types of learning environments. Here, I suggest six places for getting library design inspiration. @DianaLRendina

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 Your Library Should Have

6 Active Learning Spaces Your Library Should Have | On AASL Knowledge Quest, I take a look at six types of active learning spaces from the book, Get Active. I describe how these spaces can be implemented in modern school libraries and why they are essential

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

Read This Book: Get Active

Read this book: Get Active: Reimagining Learning Spaces for Student Success | In my review of Get Active, I talk about the learning space design theory that this book discusses. In particular, I look into how active learning spaces play a role in school libraries.

  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

FAME 2015 Reflections: Workshops, Maker Playground + More

FAME 2015 Reflections: At FAME 2015 in Orlando, FL, I led my first workshop, organized a makerspace playground, presented on library design and 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