Due to covid regulations at the time of this assignment I was unable to go visit one of the local schools. However, there is a curriculum library on the campus of Liberty University that serves the nearby private school (Liberty Christian Academy), the homeschooling population in the area, and the education students from the university.
When you first walk into the library, you can see that there are several different sections of children’s, middle-grade, and YA literature. There are also displays on top of some of the shelving units that highlight certain materials. There are four tables in the center of the room and several bistro-style tables off to either side. Probably half of these seating options were filled when I visited. There were college aged students at two of the tables working in groups and there was a tutoring session happening at one of the bistro tables. There was also a young mother with her three children who were browsing the easy reading section and playing on the rainbow stools that resembled a caterpillar. There were two employees seated at the information desk who seemed to be student employees. They addressed me kindly and asked if I needed any assistance.
This library uses the Dewey decimal system, and the collection is broken up into a few different sections. Easy fiction, middle-grade fiction, non-fiction and biography, pop-up books, and YA fiction. The sections are clearly noted by wall signage as well as the different stickers on the binding of each book. In addition to the many books, the Curriculum library also subscribes to several education journals and children’s magazines.
In addition to the books and other resources that are available for checkout, the curriculum library has printing services, lamination and binding services, an Ellison die cut machine, and a cricut machine available to patrons. These are especially helpful to education students as well as teachers and homeschool families who want to create activities or visual aids to supplement their lesson plans or to make decorations for their classrooms.
The Curriculum library is not an extraordinarily large facility, it is just one big room with several offices branching off the back. I even got to speak to the manager of the library while I was visiting. Curriculum library manager, Lindy Placke, was very kind and informative. She told me if there was anything else that I would like to know about the library she could assist me. I inquired about the collection of textbooks, and she explained that they had textbooks for every subject and grade level, curriculum materials, and testing resources. She said that these are especially used by the homeschooling families in the area for developing their curricula and the residential education students who have lesson planning assignments as well as practicums in classes that they must lead.
Overall, my visit to the curriculum library was very informative. I think it is great that this library services the smaller private school that may not have access to such an extensive collection and also the students and parents who use the materials to develop lesson plans and curricula.
I was really impressed with the curriculum library at Liberty. Is it housed in the new library that you described in your Academic Library post? It certainly looks bright and new! The volume of the collection seems substantial and I wondered about circulation and who is permitted to checkout books. I imagine the creation station gets a lot of use by students.
Hi Jennifer, Yes it is housed in the same building. Their borrowing policy closely resembles that of the academic library. Students, faculty, and community members can check out materials. From what I understand, the physical circulation stats of the Curriculum library are very high. They have many families form the community that take advantage of the resources for teaching but also for pleasure reading.
Miranda,
This library is like a pot of gold for the homeschooling families in the community! What an amazing resource for them to utilize as they navigate through the educational process for their children!
I know the education students at Liberty love the Creation Station. They must be using the Cricut machine, Ellison press and laminator like crazy as they prepare for classrooms of their own!
Emily, at the beginning of the semester, they really do get a lot of use! I agree that this is such a helpful facility for the homeschooling families in the area. I have family members who did homeschooling and I know they would have really benefitted from a resource like this one.
I had never heard of a curriculum library before, but what an interesting idea. It seems to serve three different but similar populations. Sharing resources for all three groups would be very beneficial and also be in the mode of school library. I think it is neat they have so many services like printing and lamination, which I am guessing part of the creation station. That must be helpful to faculty at the private school and education students. I see where the library does, “instructing students and assisting educators in using, evaluating, and producing information and ideas through active use of a broad range of appropriate tools, resources, and information technologies” (AASL 2009, p. 8 as cited by Rubin and Rubin, 2020, p. 154). I love that caterpillar set of chairs! That is very cute, and I see why the children you saw wanted to play on it. I also like the display on cowboys and horses. The manager seemed nice and full of information as well. I bet it does get a lot of use!
Rubin, R. E., & Rubin, R. G. (2020). Foundations of library and information science (5th ed.). ALA Neal-Schuman.
Hi Tiffany,
I was not sure how common libraries like this one are. But I did see that most curriculum libraries are geared more towards teachers and did not have large collections of children and YA materials. Their displays and decorations were so cute and inviting, I would have loved to visit when I was younger!
This school library is very unique! I was impressed at the textbooks that are offered here. I was homeschooled for a portion of my K-12 experience, and I think my mom would have like to have had access to something like this (we did a combination of ordering curriculum and using resources the public schools provided).
Further, I wonder how often students from the private school get to visit the library since it is not in the same building.
Hi Amy,
I have seen tours of students come to the library before, but additionally I think they make trips after school hours with their families. I also was impressed by the textbooks. Their collection was extensive and I am sure it would be a great help for homeschooling moms and dads!
Miranda,
What a fascinating school library! I was homeschooled from 8th-12th grade, and my partner was homeschooled all of his life, and all I could think about as I read your post was how many families would have paid for access to something like this to support their lesson planning and curriculum! I would be curious to know if any of the curriculum that has been acquired is similar to what our families used growing up.
I also think that it is lovely that the library supports homeschooling parents and the local private school with a creation station. Resources such as lamination, printing, binding, an Ellison die cut machine, and a cricut machine were greatly out of the reach of affordable access for the families in our homeschooling community. It’s great that this curriculum library has made a concerted effort to support these families, many of whom may have children who attend the university at a later time in life.
Thanks for highlighting this unique library!
-Allison
Hi Allison,
Thank you for your reply! The lamination and Ellison die cut machine are very popular and I can see why! Education students and parents alike love to utilize these services for their classrooms/homeschoolers.