It is good to have at least one conference room and a small office where privacy can be assured. An enclosed stack area with a single entrance controlled by a charging desk is preferable to single-faced bookshelves mounted to surrounding walls. This enclosed stack area will encourage students to check out materials before taking them to a table. The stacks can also serve as a screen to separate activities. One or two small work tables might be included in the stack area near the charging desk to permit short-term reference work.
Telephone lines are very important in today's school library media center.
They encourage borrowing of resources from other libraries and information agencies and they permit access to the entire universe of information available outside the school. Carpeting the library media center will help eliminate the noise that originates at floor level. A library is intended to support a great deal of movement while maintaining an atmosphere conducive to quiet study and reflection. Using sound absorbent materials on ceilings and walls and draping the windows will also help. Many districts provide a well equipped television production studio in at least one school building for teaching modern communication techniques and for originating distance learning instruction.