Page 11 - Priorities #15 2001-July

(Peter) I like keeping the library near the classroom area, where we are easily accessible. The Assembly Hall was designed as a library. It has adjacent space for expansion. It can be adapted to provide everything we need.
WPS: I’ve noticed a “Library is closed—class in session” sign up on the door many times. Does this happen often?
It happens twice a week at least. When we have a large class, or an especially big group of independent users wanting to use the same space as a scheduled class, we have to close. Many students would like to be in the library during lunch but we have classes then and it would be just too chaotic to get anything done.
WPS: What are the rewards and frustrations of being a Priory librarian?
Really, space is the only issue. Behavior problems, overdue books, damaged materials and things like that we can easily manage on our own. But we can’t solve the space problems alone.
WPS: How about the rewards of working in the library? (Susan) We get to know just about every student
over several years. Seeing their work and reading habits develop, and helping them mature, is definitely a reward . When a student comes back and asks me to read a paper or help with a college essay, that’s a great reward. We all feel we have accomplished something when we see a kid reach a goal, or develop skills he or shecanuseindependently. That’sthebigpayoff,asit is for every teacher.
Members of the Priory’s award-winning Model United Nations group use the library to do research for their conferences.
Those ‘Library Teas’ Built Something Lasting How do you start a library from scratch?
The first big break for the Priory library came in its first years, when Virginia Allen (Mrs. Robert) Gill donated 4,000 rare books valued then at $11,250 from the Daniel Cowan Jackling estate. The books originally were housed in the monastery. Today the collection is in the Rare Book Room at the rear of the library, where there is a lovely old library table and chairs often used by students and their after-school tutors.
Within a few years of its founding, the school acquired an old, temporary building. It had been the construction managers’ on-site offices during the building of the Veterans Administration Hospital in Palo Alto. In the beginning, it was spacious enough as a library to also house the Headmaster’s office, Father Pius recalls.
To stock the shelves, mothers held a series of "Library Teas" and bridge parties. The monks had no special training in librarianship but they were excellent academicians. Their first choices were for references to support the textbooks and curriculum, plus literature for young minds to explore. Father Achilles Horvath had a special dedication to creating an outstanding library, said Father Pius.
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