Over the years at Silver Creek High School, the furniture in the library has become older and older. Even though the furniture may be functional, it is becoming worn out. Staff and students are ready for a change, but it still might be a while until we can update the library.

The library is a place that many kids at Silver Creek High School use for reading, studying, and meetings. Thanks to the librarians Kristin Holtz and Tina Fredo, the library is open after school to students and teachers.

A lot of students rely on the library after school to finish homework and during their free block to get anything done that they may need. This demonstrates the frequency of library usage. We are anticipating the downfall of the furniture, which is why Holtz and Fredo have started to plan. Around February of 2023, they sent out a survey to students to vote on certain items they may want.

“We wanted input from students so that we were making sure that the space was representative of what students and staff wanted,” Holtz stated.

Not only did they want students’ opinions but they wanted staff’s feedback as well.

“We sent out a survey to staff recently to talk about some of the plans we had to see if they felt like that would be effective, would be good use of the space.” Holtz continued.

After some thinking they wanted to start looking into furniture.

“Our library is lovely, and our furniture is in pretty good shape but the tables and chairs are 22 years old,” Holtz said.

They knew they were ready for an update.

“We feel like maybe it’s time to do something different. The computer chairs are starting to wear out. We would like the space to feel appealing and inviting and when furniture starts to get old and things start to look a little run down, it doesn’t have the same atmosphere. New furniture always spruces things up.” Holtz stated.

Not only would students appreciate the new furniture, but people from other districts would enjoy it.

“We have regular school meetings here but we also hold district-wide meetings here and we have people from out of state come so we want it to look good,” Fredo added.

But this is a long process and they don’t want people getting too excited yet.

“We are hoping to do at least one side this year, but it means the furniture probably won’t be in until the summer so one side would be new the next school year. The other side would ideally be [updated] the following summer.” Holtz said.

The librarians may know a lot about the incoming furniture; however some students, like Reaghan Pope, didn’t even know this was possible.

“I did not know that the library was planning on having new furniture, I remember taking a survey last year to see what we would like in the library. But I didn’t think it would be possible.”

Although she didn’t know about this plan, she is looking forward to getting specific furniture.

“The chairs can be super uncomfortable when I am doing my homework in the library on my free block,” Pope said.

The efforts made by Holtz and Fredo are coming to life soon! Even though it might still be a work in progress, the school is working hard to make the library more comfortable and inviting for students and staff!