Christina Myers

Physical Space

Ras Tanura Elementary School serves 456 expatriate students from grades pre-k three (children age three) to fourth grade and is located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, which is inside the Najama camp of Saudi Aramco Oil Company. The campus does serve a small percentage of Saudi national students whose fathers work for Saudi Aramco, from pre-k three through kindergarten. The student population is highly diverse; students hold passports from 34 different countries. All students in the community come from a two-parent home, with at least one or both parents who are college-educated. The library itself is utilized by students in kindergarten through fourth grade. A good majority of the students come in as English language learners or are already strong bilingual or multilingual in their language development. The majority of the school functions as like an American school, as we use only English language curriculum in the elementary school.

It is interesting to not that this library used to serve students to ninth grade at one time. It is also interesting to note the school district itself is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.

Realms Current Library Space Suggested ChangesSpatial Our library is located on the first floor of the building. There are two sets of

staircases within the library that leads up to a second floor where there are two computer labs and some offices used by the instructional coach and tech facilitator. Our library overall is very spacious.

The space is divided into areas such as whole group learning area, tables for group activities or independent work area, cozy nocks for reading areas and a computer lab with promethean board.

In talking with my mentor about this project and knowing that there will be a makerspace/STEM lab replacing one of the computer labs upstairs, we decided that one change that might be needed is to move the teaching area pictured in the first picture. The reason for the is for a couple of reason. One, the foot traffic going up and down the stairs can be distracting especially to the younger kids. Also, the noise generated from upstairs does carry down into the main floor which can also be distracting.

Another area that would be nice to change are the tables and chairs. They are heavy duty and are sometimes difficult to move for smaller students. Having furniture that is smaller, more flexible and colorful would help to make this area more inviting.

The circulation desk is quite large and is tall. This would be one more area that I might consider for change if the cost was within reason.

A neat feature of the book shelves containing picture books, is that each one can be moved around easily as they are on wheels. Our librarian had these customs made. She did however mention two things that she would change on them. One, the books from both side fall into each other. She wishes she would have asked for the movable divider to be taller. The other thing she would change is to bring the top part of the unit down about and inch so that it would be more accessible to smaller students.

Psychological Our library is a safe space for students. It is welcoming through the use of routines that the librarian has put in place. The library runs mostly on a fixed schedule, as it is a teacher’s planning time but, there is room for flex time as well. There are several colors used throughout the space to define certain areas. The colors are not to bold but are calming and bring a sense of

One area that I’d love to see is a word mural/cloud or inspirational quotes about the library. There are two large areas in the library that are just below the second floor. You can see both of these spaces in both picture 1 and 2 and I have placed and arrow on picture three that really shows how

stimulation to the areas.

The picture below is looking out from the circulation desk. There are clean lines and the librarian is able to scan the library easily.

big this space is. The color is cream colored and I think it would bring a sense encouragement, maybe playful community to the library. Or the other idea would be to display all the flags that our student population represents in this space since we have such a diverse community.

Physiological The lighting in the library is bright and well lite. There is some window on the second floor that brings in natural light. The temperature is usually cool however we are always dealing with the humidity in this space. The paint colors around the library are visually stimulating and defines the different areas.

Whole group learning area.

The lighting seems a bit harsh. Softening the lights through the use of light filters would make the library feel warm but still provide the right amount of light for students and teachers.

One area of our library that I don’t particularly like is where the computer lab is downstairs. The area gets crowded with carts that have new books on them, or are books to be weeded.

This is an area that my mentor and I discussed moving the whole group learning area to. The ceiling is lower and it also has the promethean board where she could do more lesson that are technology based. These computers would be moved to the space where the whole group teaching is now or completely removed.

Behavioral The physical space of the library does allow for students to use the tables for independent work or for collaboration. The whole group seating area is situated in a cubby area of the library and faces a corner, as a way to try and minimize distractions during lessons. Students come into the library via one of two doors. The library is nicely situated, basically, in the middle of the school. Many teachers go through the library to reach the teacher’s lounge. I partially like the way the librarian utilized the space under the stairs, creating a little reading nock. The couch is comfy, too plus the light is a little bit dimmer because of the stairs.

The picture below shows a magazine or book reading area. The ceilings are a

Our library lacks an area where students can be creative. There is no makerspace, as of right now. I think this is due to our librarian not knowing how to really fit one in, into the schedule, and the true purpose behind it.

This may seem strange but we do not serve food at our school. There is no cafeteria, for this reason, students do not arrive to school before 7:20. The bell rings at 7:35. No students are allowed in the building prior to school starting. So, the library is not utilized in the morning time. It is however used occasionally for an afterschool activity but most students return home and do not visit the library after school.

I think if we did have a makerspace, a time for students to be creative, the times that the library is used, before and after school, would need to be address.

little lower here which feels cozier and not so open.