This year, a big change is being made to the Media Center that Lincoln has had for many years. Lincoln was awarded a large amount of Measure H funding and it was decided to be used towards redesigning the Media Center. The construction is going to happen in three separate stages which have already been scheduled. There are two Lincoln administrators in charge of the project, Angela Lyte Crowther and Kevin Wan. The blueprint below is not completely finalized when it comes to the type of furniture, but the structures are approved and ready to be set into motion.

Mrs. Lyte expressed her support for the project when she said that the purpose and end product should transform the media center to be more “student driven.” She also discussed how each stage was going to take place and that the structure is finalized but the furniture is not.

Although Mrs. Lyte supports this project (as she is a chairperson in charge), she was not in the initial vote for the redesign idea to become set in stone. She says that if she were to have been apart of the vote she would have voted for the available funds to be distributed where there was more of a need. The project’s funds come out of Measure H which “provide[s] $5 million in annual savings that can be used for academic programs and to retain teachers and educational staff.” Given the amount of money that this project is going to be allowed Mrs. Lyte would’ve voted for more technology such as more chrome/computer carts for the entire school. Measure H can be used to improve or implement facilities/programs. So Mrs. Lyte brings up a good point, is the redesign the most effective choice for Lincoln’s campus?

Not only is the budget being distributed to factors that are of lesser concern for the school, the project is only changing the inside of the Media Center.  She said that it is a very expensive project even considering the fact that we are not able to make new space (like adding a second level or expanding onto the outskirts of the building). For the expensive cost we are not gaining new space, we are just redesigning the small space we already have.  That’s why Mrs. Lyte would have advised a different approach for using the funds that are going towards this reconstruction of the Media Center.

The library books are going to find new locations throughout the school in classrooms and storage rooms. Lion Tales asked the library clerk, Becky Bruni, her opinion about the reconstruction of the library she works in everyday. First we asked “What are some of the benefits from the reconstruction” and her response involved the great thing about the College and Career Center members obtaining their own private offices. Although, she said, she doesn’t see many “benefits to the reconstruction because it wasn’t thought out economically.” Mrs. Bruni believes, just like Mrs. Lyte, that with the space we already have and the fact we are not expanding the space, the cost does not justify the improvements proposed.

Something else that Mrs. Bruni is not supportive of is that the majority of the computers in the Media Center are being moved to the Career Center, and access is only available for students during class time. A lot of students use the computers before school, during brunch/lunch, and after school for all sorts of reasons. As far as Mrs. Bruni knows, there will only be a limited amount of computers left in the media center (10-20) and their access for student use is undecided at the moment. Mrs. Bruni’s feelings aren’t in the project’s favor, but she knows “it’s what the school decided” and so it’s what is going to happen.

The last shift to this reconstruction is to the members who are in the College and Career Center, who will be moved into the redesign of the Media Center. The counselors are going to be getting their own individual offices, giving them the opportunity to have more private, one-on-one conversations with students when necessary. The College and Career Center employees estimated that there is going to be a small difficult transition period and students will have to figure out where to go for counselor help. They all enjoy having their own space like the center they have now, but individual offices are a step in the right direction.

There were also some concerns that they had about moving to a new location and how their access is going to change. When Lion Tales asked “how do you all feel about the reconstruction” they came to a group consensus that they want “students to still be able to locate [them] and to be able get the information out the way [they] do having [their] own space like [they] do now.” Also, it is unclear that they will still have the access to technology that they have now. The College and Career Center has their own set of desktop computers that students use on a regular basis in their space, and with the move they are unsure that this access will still be available outside of their individual offices or if they would have to reserve computers on the daily.

All of the employees in the College and Career Center have mixed feelings about the reconstruction but at this point it is mostly the effect of undecided factors towards what this transition will mean for them. They will not be moved into the Media Center until the beginning of the next school year, even though their offices will be finished after the February break.

Overall, opinions surrounding the Media Center reconstruction are both positive and negative. The aspects that are the most unclear are where all the books will be moved, and how will the school keep track of these books. Also, it will be a huge shift for the College and Career Center employees, which may make it hard to get their information out in the same ways they do now, as well as keep their technology access/organization they have now by having their own space as a unit.

The Measure H project is more on the expensive side for the school and since we are not gaining new space it is unclear if the investment is going to be worth it. The projected budget for the redesign is $415,269.81, which is a large amount of money going to a redesign which we are not gaining any new space from.

Although there are all these concerns, there are plenty of positives to look forward to. The spaces that are being transformed into the computer labs and the A.V. room are very exciting because they will give more classes access to more hands on, creative ways of learning. The College and Career Center employees will be getting their own offices and they are in full support of having a more private and conserved space to get all they need to get done, done. With more getting done to the redesign and more in still up in the air for discussion, the Media Center’s reconstruction is happening and Lincoln can’t wait to see it!