One of the LHS librarians left at semester to work on opening the new high school's library. Library patrons became accustomed to functioning during this two-year period without a library and the services it had provided in the past. Lawrence High School also entered a new accreditation cycle. The committee responsible for reading assessment determined that student reading scores indicated a need for an increased focus on expository reading skills across the curriculum. Improving Lawrence High School's attitude toward reading and improving the circulation statistics of the Lawrence High School Library became primary goals of this initiative.
Librarians are busy.
To accomplish these goals, staff recognized that library activities must extend beyond the library's physical walls. The purchase of new computers and a digital camera assisted with this strategy. New Pentium computers and a quality digital camera have had quite an impact in shaping the library's image. The ability to promote library services with posters of students has proven more powerful than imagined. The LHS Library is so popular now, teachers are using different areas in the library to display student artwork, to showcase students' history day projects, and to accommodate athletic scholarship signings and other activities, bringing a variety of the community's population into the library to showcase student accomplishments.