Media Center Adaptations to COVID

In response to COVID-19 there have been many changes in the school, one, for instance, is the media center.

Despite the library/media center being the largest room in the building, there are still strict limits on the number of people permitted in it. There are only 17 people maximum without teachers to be in the media center at a time.

Library assistant Tara Wilson said, “Students are only allowed to come into the media center if they can’t do something in the class; the maximum capacity without the teacher is 17.”

When there is a teacher there is allowed to be one class at a time and the seating arrangements are what the teacher decides. To help teachers and students sit at a social distance, media specialist Emily Amberman and Wilson labeled seats.

“They’re allowed to sit in any seat without a seat closed sign; if it’s a whole class with teachers here, it’s

the teacher’s call.”

The media center last year had many uses, there was the bistro where students and sometimes teachers get food or drinks. There was is the makerspace where classes would go to make crafts or projects, and sometimes people would go down there just for fun to relax in the seats and read or socialize.

This year, though, there is only really one purpose for the media center and that is academic purposes for books or tech support on Chromebooks.

“There are not many students here without a purpose anymore and only here for a minute or so to return or get books or go to the help tech desk for their Chromebook”.

The help desk is available period ⅞ on Tuesdays and Thursdays and during period 9 Monday through Thursday. Students are able to come for help with technology issues or Chromebook problems during those times.

This year, the people in the media center have to use hand sanitizer before looking at books, and if they decide to get a book, they get to check it out, but if they don’t check it out they have to put it in the return slot and leave it there for 72 hours before the librarians can put it back on the shelf.

While teachers are using the library and media center less, they are still able to do so. For instance, Amberman recently led a Virtual Reality (VR) goggle lesson for science teacher Rick Stouffer’s class.

English teacher Jenna Lloyd said she uses the media center “a lot less than last year; I haven’t taken classes yet this year, and we are only using certain objects down there.”