A quick & dirty mud map

I’ve been asked to help other teacher-librarians, about to move into their new BER libraries, to provide a “mud map” of the floor plan, showing the arrangement of the shelving bays and where our Junior Fiction, Fiction and Non Fiction sections start and end.

Library floor plan mud map
(Click to enlarge.)

The Key is:
C = Computers
CC = Connected Classroom
IWB = Interactive WhiteBoard
LP = Listening Post
PRC = Premier’s Reading Challenge
R = Reference
SPIN = Spinner Rack (one for Animal NF and one for Fiction Quick Reads)
TR = Teacher Reference.

Junior Fiction goes from the returns box to the couch, (Senior) Fiction follows in two “U” shapes, Non Fiction follows in two “U” shapes and finishes at IWB. I realised before unpacking that we really didn’t have enough shelves, so I marked my three targets (ie. JUN Z, FIC Z and NON 999), bit the bullet and just culled ruthlesslessly to fit. I am now very glad to have been that brave. We probably culled about a quarter of a very bloated collection. I know that borrowing will increase as a result of this drastic spring clean. Had I tried to cull in the old library environment, I’m sure I’d have kept a lot of unnecessary stuff.

As you can see, I essentially accepted the arrangement offered by the builders, only switching the positions of a browsing table with a set of bench seating, and sliding one bay slightly to accommodate. The two spinner racks – one for Quick Read, such as “Aussie bites”, etc and one for colourful animal books – plus the racks for Premier’s Reading Challenge, were retrieved from the classrooms where they were on long-term loan.

2 thoughts on “A quick & dirty mud map

  1. Ian, it looks great, inspiring – a couple of questions. Does your return box wheel to circulation for returns or do you carry the books? Do you find it inconvenient yet? I assume the returns trolley is your “just back in” trolley.

    Having just done a major cull, do you have a ball-park figure for your collection – just the standard book stock, rather that all the extra resources.

    It’s interesting seeing your old ideas and things in their new home.

    Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

  2. Hi Kathryn,

    I’m not expecting the “Returns” box to get much action. Our students usually return books in bulk, as they enter the library for each library lesson. Hence the library lion sits atop the box and guards the entrance. As he should. (I’ve heard too many disgruntled TLs complaining of their “Returns” box hassles when they try to use it as the only point of return.

    I actually spent this weekend preparing to put some finishing touches to our “Returns” box, and the glue should be dry any minute now! Very classy, textured effect from the trusty bottle of medium-grain gel art medium!

    “Just back in” is for the Re-shelving trolley and boxes: my favourite stress reliever!

    The post on “Returns” is here:
    http://ianmclean.edublogs.org/2010/12/07/many-happy-returns/

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