Being the Bridge: Reevaluating Plans and Making Creative Adjustments

When I applied for the position I have now, I created a very ambitious five-year plan that I gave to the administration. I’d been developing this plan for years based on research, podcast episodes, conversations with high school media specialists across the country, and all the ideas that popped into my head. I knew what the culture was surrounding the library at the school I was applying to. I knew what many high school libraries looked like. I had a vision for what could be. I was really tired of people telling me that high school libraries were different and this or that wouldn’t work because the students wouldn’t come, and the teachers wouldn’t want to be involved. I knew there had to be a way. I created a plan. I surveyed the staff and the students and then, I got to work. 

As I transitioned to a space that needed a lot of TLC, I started working on updating the space first. I spent my summer picking paint colors for the walls, spray-painting book carts and café tables, updating bulletin boards, moving furniture, and getting rid of the outdated reference section. My principal gave me time in front of the staff during pre-planning to help them reimagine what our media center could be. I very clearly laid out what the space should look like, what I could do with their students, and how I could support their instruction. They all seemed very receptive to the changes. 

Once school started and students started seeing the changes, I started putting the plan into motion. As classes came here to get their textbooks, I gave them the grand tour of the updates and introduced myself. I invited them to come in at lunch time or before school. The students started coming. The teachers started scheduling their classes. By the fifth day of school, I had over two hundred students in the library for each lunch. My plan was working! 

The only real problem I’ve had is that my plan has worked too well too quickly. It’s an excellent problem to have but it has caused me to make some creative adjustments and reevaluate what the best use of this space and resources might actually look like. Scheduling classes to come in was working really well except at lunch time. Lunch in the library kept growing and growing. I tried sectioning off the space and continuing to teach while the kids ate lunch in here. I could make it work but it was difficult – really, really difficult. I could close the library during lunches when I have classes scheduled, but that impact is felt quite deeply. I’m displacing hundreds of students who come here for a variety of reasons. So, I’ve started getting creative. I bring in classes that meet in the mornings or afternoons, not during the lunch times. I bring in 4th period classes in between the two lunch times and we adjust to the twenty minutes of time I have to work with them. 

I thought I’d be bringing in a lot of classes for lessons. I do bring in classes for lessons but not nearly as many as I imagined. It isn’t because the teachers aren’t receptive but more so because of the sheer number of students who are here during the lunch times. Just recently I had almost 450 students in the library for one lunch time and about 400 for the other lunch time. I see anywhere from 80-150 kids each morning. I’m seeing almost half of our 2,300 students each day. To best serve them, I’ve shifted to more passive programming. I support where they need support. I provide a space where they can decompress. We have a lot of games and make-and-take crafts, I do activities for holidays or events. I’ve shifted my mindset from thinking about the classes I hoped I’d be working with to thinking about how I can accomplish similar goals with the students when I do have access to them. 

Honestly, sometimes I feel like I’m not doing enough for them but then someone reminds me that I’m giving them what they need. We have many students who are in the International Baccalaureate® program, in Advanced Placement® classes, or take Dual Enrollment classes. A lot of these students have jobs, lots of extracurricular activities, and are managing a lot. This is an opportunity for me to be a bridge between what their middle school library provided them and what their college libraries will be like. When I frame it that way, it helps me shift my perspective a little bit and then I know I’m doing what’s right for my students. 

About the Author:

Carrie Friday
Media Specialist/Librarian
Melbourne High School, Melbourne, FL

Carrie Friday is the Media Specialist at Melbourne High School in Melbourne, Florida, a 2018-2019 Teacher of the Year Finalist for Brevard Public Schools, a 2019-2020 Space Coast Public Service Heavy Lifter award winner and was named a 2022 Woman Who Rocks for her community. She isn’t afraid to take risks and will do just about anything to encourage the love of literacy and learning in students and teachers. 

She is a co-founder of the #swms20bookchallenge. Carrie is a Follett Community contributor and has presented best practices at the district level, FAME, AASL, FETC, and the Future Ready Librarians® Summit. She’s hosted webinars on Makerspace, the #swms20bookchallenge, and advocacy. Mrs. Friday’s library program was awarded the designation of a Florida Power Library School by the Florida Department of Education and she has appeared on the Librarian Influencers podcast and School Librarians United podcast. She has served on the Florida SSYRA Award committee, FAME Conference committee as Author Chair, and currently serves on the Florida Association of Media in Education Board of Directors and Florida Teens Read Committee. She believes in innovation, collaboration, and the power of really good books. 

She is also a wife to a rocket scientist and mom to the sweetest two girls you’ll ever meet. She loves Gilmore Girls, Pinterest, coffee, and porch swings. She is a proud graduate of Auburn University. War Eagle!