BY EAN THIELBAR

A new page turns in the FHN library as they await approval of the District’s five-year plan for modernizing the libraries in FHSD schools.

“It’s a way to explore where our future is going,” librarian Michelle Stuerman said. “We need to prepare our students to live in the 21st century.”

This five-year plan consists of putting in several iPads and/or eBooks, as well as taking old books out, painting the walls, adding docking stations for Apple products and getting new furniture. Additions may be added because this plan is still processing.

“I agree to update the library to have better technology so that the students may further use that knowledge in its growing age,” sophomore Aaron Harmon said. “It helps to be more advanced with society because the most advanced people will always win in the end.”

Some of these changes are estimated and not fully permanent until the plan is approved by the Board of Education at a later date. The plan is estimated to take five years to complete due to the constricting budget. The exact cost of the plan has not yet been determined due to its early stage of development.

“We are in it for the long haul,” Stuerman said. “We want to be a place where people want to come and own a piece of it.”

Also expected to be a part of the five-year plan is the “Bring your own device” policy. This policy allows any student to bring a mobile device (iPad, eBook, Kindle, iPhone, etc.) to the library and use it for educational purposes. Students may do this before school, after school, during lunch or during a class in the library with the teacher’s permission. Students will also be able to charge their Apple devices in the libraries with a docking station.

“It’s an example of how our school is continuing to grow in technology,” English teacher Kristen Johnson said. “We have to be willing to change and accept where our kids are and the new things we have. We want to make sure we’re getting them as prepared as we can for the next step.”