Racine Unified School District, Racine WI

Project Goal:  recreate the Gifford School Library.

Description:  The Gifford School in Racine, currently a K-5 school, is undergoing renovation to repurpose into a K-8 school.  Such a transition requires rethinking all spaces, including the library to be able to provide spaces for a wide range of students.  This project not only focused on rethinking physical spaces, but how new ideas for programming and use of the library would change how the library served student learning?

What's Interesting?  How does a new space in a single building become a catalyst for rethinking the program of all libraries in the district?  How does a space need to be constructed to support a kindergartener and an 8th grader using it at the same time.  How does the new library partner with classrooms to form a larger ecology of spaces where kids inhabit?