The Woodruff Library Annual Report 2015-2016

The Woodruff Library Annual ReportPACE ACADEMY 2015–2016

Guiding PrinciplesTo provide the highest level of service possible, the Woodruff Library will…

• Know its patrons and anticipate and support their needs

• Create an environment that is conducive to learning and inquiry

• Provide resources that help students excel in school and prepare them for college

• Encourage and promote reading for learning and pleasure

Mission Statement To create prepared, confident citizens of the world, the Woodruff Library will provide services and resources that…

• Engage the mind

• Cultivate curiosity

• Nurture the imagination

• Enrich teaching and learning

The Woodruff Library Annual ReportPACE ACADEMY2015–2016

Scholar, writer and teacher R. David Lankes once said, “Bad libraries build collections, good libraries build services, great libraries build communities.”

Now in its second year, Pace Academy’s Woodruff Library is a vital piece of the Pace family puzzle, an entity that fosters and enhances our school’s warm, welcoming and inquisitive culture.

More than a collection of books and resources, the library offers student-centered programming, implemented by forward-thinking staff and volunteers. It refuses to take itself too seriously and instead reflects the interests, passions and pastimes of the students within its walls—

all while meeting the evolving needs of the most savvy 21st-century learners.

The Woodruff Library’s integrated presence on campus shapes the lives of the Middle and Upper School students and faculty it serves. True to its mission, the library engages minds, cultivates curiosity, nurtures imaginations, and enriches teaching and learning at Pace Academy. In short, it builds community.

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A special visit

from Tim Green

A Place for EveryoneArchitect SANDY COOPER ’79 envisioned the Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School’s Woodruff Library as the building’s crowning jewel, a spacious setting that would evoke the school’s history and tradition of academic excellence while embracing the adventure of discovery and the warmth of the Pace community.

The Woodruff Library’s three stories front W. Paces Ferry Road, anchored by a stone turret reminiscent of adjacent Kirkpatrick Hall, the school’s iconic “Castle.” While its façade looks like something out of a fairytale, the true magic takes place inside.

The library’s first floor, located on the Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School’s second level, is a place for collaborative study and group activities. Here students attend orientation and instruction sessions in the library’s fully outfitted, media-enabled classroom. This floor is a dynamic, surprisingly noisy environment in which students are encouraged to indulge their curiosities with any number of games, puzzles and other mind-engaging activities provided by the library staff.

Surveying the room one observes models of dinosaur skeletons and combustion engines, replicas of famous inventions, and completed and framed jigsaw puzzles, all constructed by students. Tables are scattered with “thinking games” such as Blokus, Scrabble, Go and chess—especially chess. Chess has become such a popular activity that the library has continually added new sets to its collection. In fact, students in one of the Upper School’s January “mini-mesters” used the school’s 3D printer to print a set for the library—in Pace colors, of course. Students and faculty may also take advantage of eight Apple desktop computers and 20 laptop computers, as well as printing and copying capabilities.

Visitors to the library’s second floor often liken its vaulted ceiling, spiral staircase, stone fireplace and hearth, dark finishes and hidden nooks to a scene from Harry Potter. With seating for 58, this level includes a spacious reading room, where students huddle over work at long tables, or perch in armchairs illumined by the fireplace or light from the room’s tall bay windows. Rotating displays adorn low bookcases on this floor; small-group meetings take place in two study rooms; six carrels provide privacy for students working independently; and librarians and parent volunteers

“The Woodruff Library is quite possibly my favorite thing in the new Upper School. Not only does it provide a quiet, relaxing and enjoyable place to read, but it also gives me and many other students a place to just relax, chat, complete impossible and frustrating puzzles and read.”

BLAKE RODRIGUEZ ’19

“I think that the library is one of the best places to study. The silent level is great for productivity, and the louder level is great for meeting up with friends.”

RAINA WILLIAMS ’19

“The library is a great place to go! I can get work done in the quiet, upper portion of the library. If I want to try my luck at some puzzles, Mr. Ball has a fair share of them for me. The Woodruff Library is a great place for all students!”

PATRICK THURMAN ’19

“The upper floor of the library really helps me focus when I want to buckle down and get assignments done.”

IBUM OBU ’18

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staff the circulation desk. It’s here that students find a quiet reprieve from the bustle of the rest of the school. Silence is the order of the day here, with many students referring to this space as their “refuge.”

The reading room, previously home to the library’s reference collection, now holds its newest and most popular titles. Creative displays and “face-out” shelving encourage bookstore-esque browsing, so it’s no surprise that the library has seen a dramatic increase (158 percent!) in checkouts over the previous year.

The reading room also frequently hosts speakers, authors and school events. Recent guests have included authors Tim Green, Marie Marquardt and Joel Salatin, the Isdell Center for Global Leadership’s 2015-2016 Visiting Scholar.

Engaging Students“I love how the library provides stress relievers and constantly engages with the student body to get us involved in new and interesting global topics,” says freshman EMILY SCHMITT—music to the ears of Woodruff Library Director MATT BALL.

“Everything we do is in an effort to create lifelong learners by encouraging students to be curious and to engage their minds, to be critical and skeptical about what they’re researching but to also have fun with learning,” Ball says.

To build those relationships, Ball has amassed an all-star team. Along with 20-year Pace veteran librarian LINDA TEAGUE, library assistant MARTY HAMBURGER, and after-school supervisors DEE HOOVER and BRIANNA KORB have their fingers on the pulse of the student body. They offer inventive programming, unlimited resources and general fun with the support of an army of parent volunteers. Although it’s hard to beat the snack bar as the volunteer opportunity of choice, volunteer slots at the library have become highly coveted.

Library fun (imagine that!) ranges from offering board games and jigsaw puzzles to mind-bending challenges, stress-reducing coloring books and holiday-themed contests. Ball and Teague highlight new arrivals through creative book displays and take their Bookmobile around campus to reach those who may not be able to visit throughout the day. New outreach activities this year include “book buddies,” where Upper School students read their favorite stories to their Lower School counterparts,

“I am very grateful to the library and Mr. Ball for constantly trying to get us what we need even if it isn’t book related—like chargers for phones. The library staff is always there for us in just about every way we could imagine.”

KASSIA TOURE ’16

“The library has created an excellent place to get work done, as well as a place to talk with friends and collaborate on work.”

SETH SWIECICHOWSKI ’17

“I love going to the library during my free periods. Whenever I open a good book, all my problems go away.”

ISABELLA DOERR ’18

“The library is a great place to go for quiet and non-quiet studying. It is fun to go with friends and talk about homework.”

ALLISON SILVERBOARD ’22

“The library is my haven; it’s where I come alive.”

VIRGINIA HALL ’18

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A Book

Tasting !

Bughouse Chess

“Part of the reason I came to Pace is because of the library and the staff. The library is an extension of the classroom, and [the librarians] have done a wonderful job cultivating a space that encourages the exploration of infor-mation and imagination. Our library is valuable not only for the books on the shelves, but also for its open access to informa-tion, the community and atmosphere, and the gateway to imagination that it provides.”

CAITLIN MORRISUpper School teacher

“When I need to work on a project, I go to the library because I know I’ll find the right resources there.”

MARIELLE FROOMAN ’22

“I always come to the library whenever I need to get a lot of work done because the silence really helps me focus.”

ABBY MEYEROWITZ ’19

“The people are the best part [of the Woodruff Library]!”

FRED ASSAF Head of School

and “book tastings,” which allow seventh graders to preview and rate books based on brief encounters with different genres.

The library’s collection continues to evolve. Electronic resources such as online databases and eReference materials have more than tripled, and patrons now have access to an additional 140,000 eBooks and an equal number of streaming videos. With more fiction and bestsellers on the shelves, checkouts of youth fiction books increased 198 percent over the previous year; fiction checkouts rose by 388 percent; and 65 percent of the library’s graphic novels have been checked out—the most-read genre by percentage. Clearly, the printed book is alive and well at Pace Academy.

The library’s welcoming environment is reflected in its online presence through active Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest accounts, as well as a webpage within the Pace website that allows students to search its catalog, utilize online resources and request new purchases. This year, instances of students accessing library databases and other online resources were up 23 percent, while the number of individual articles/entries accessed increased by 35 percent.

It all appears to be working.

Enriching Teaching and LearningTo fulfill the Woodruff Library’s mission to enrich teaching and learning, the library staff frequently and consistently informs the Pace community about its offerings and actively engages in life at Pace.

Ball teaches a ninth-grade Transitions class, a mini-mester philosophy class with GRADY STEVENS and Research and Technology, a freshman elective. Teague launched the Middle School’s Library Movie Club focused on the Nazi art plunder, and, in addition to manning the bookmobile, Hamburger is a frequent performer at the Lower School’s Musical Mornings.

Ball and Teague have taught more than 100 orientation or research-methods classes and have made it easy for faculty and students to request specific materials that support curricular needs. Teague alone met with Middle School students nearly 70 times for library orientations or

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Book

Buddies!

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Did You Know?The Woodruff Library…

• Houses approximately 23,000 print volumes, 290,000 e-books, 158,000 streaming video titles, 1,000 DVDs, and 70+ online databases and refer-ence sources

• Saw checkouts increase by 158 per-cent over the previ-ous year

• Can accommodate upwards of 38,000 volumes

• Operates effectively and efficiently thanks to 24 parent volun-teers—up five percent from the previous year

to work on specific class projects. The staff also creates informational packets for students traveling on Isdell Center for Global Leadership study tours, and faculty and staff are invited to monthly book club meetings.

The impact has been tremendous. “The Woodruff Library has become a place that serves everyone with professionalism and positive energy,” says Upper School teacher CHRISTINE CARTER. “As a scholar teacher, I have benefited enormously from the ample resources, including databases, books and films. As a pleasure reader, I have appreciated that the library provides us with wonderful and current titles, and is always willing to add another one. I see too how much our students love being in the space for relaxation and for work.

“Really, our library has become a place for all facets of student and teacher life at Pace—quiet study space, group study space, deep academic resources, excellent staff, friendly competition and ways to relax. We couldn’t ask for more.”

All in the Timing“A good library will never be too neat, or too dusty, because somebody will always be in it, taking books off the shelves and staying up late reading them.” — Lemony Snicket

With the move to a new facility, Head of School FRED ASSAF envisioned a library that would serve as a hub for Middle and Upper School students—a place they wanted to be long before and long after the bell rings.

To accommodate this vision, the Woodruff Library expanded upon the previous library’s hours of operation, opening its doors at 7:30 a.m. and closing them at 6 p.m. five days a week. The move has encouraged on-campus study and collaboration, while providing a quiet after-school workspace for Middle School students and those involved in extra-curricular activities. In addition, the library remains open until 8 p.m. and on weekends during exam weeks.

MATT BALL DirectorMatt Ball joined the Pace community as director of the Woodruff Library upon its opening in 2014. A graduate of Georgia State University, Ball earned a Master of Library Science from Syracuse University and most recently served as media and collections librarian at the University of Virginia.

Ball’s dynamic personality and passion for his profession make him the ideal individual to lead the library. His goal is to provide resources and spaces that encourage and enable learning, critical thinking and a sheer love of reading.

LINDA TEAGUE Librarian Linda Teague’s career as a librarian began after high school when she was briefly employed in a public library. She took a 20-year hiatus to work in the corporate world but returned to her literary roots in 1994 to earn a master’s in library science. Teague went on to serve the Cherokee Garden Library at the Atlanta History Center, where she helped reclassify the collection. She joined the Pace faculty in 1996 and especially enjoys working with students in the Middle School.

MARTY HAMBURGER Library AssistantMarty Hamburger came to Pace in 2014 to serve as the evening supervisor of the new Woodruff Library and is now the daytime library assistant. An Iowa native, Hamburger earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa before working as an assistant swim coach at Georgia Tech for eight years. With his help, the library has implemented many fun and educational activities for students.

DEE HOOVER After-School Supervisor Dee Hoover joined the Woodruff Library team in 2016 as after-school supervisor. She attended the University of Georgia and received a master’s degree in social work from Florida State University. Hoover enjoys reading, hiking, traveling and cooking.

BRIANNA KORB After-School Supervisor Brianna Korb joined the Pace community in 2011. She teaches both freshman and AP Physics along with mentoring the Pace FTC robotics team. A graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, Korb earned her Masters in Physics Education from the University of Virginia. When she isn’t in the classroom, Korb can be seen running around the Buckhead area training for half marathons.

966 W. Paces Ferry Road NWAtlanta, Georgia 30327

www.paceacademy.org