Edwardsville Elementary School Staff Member Goes Above and Beyond to Redesign Library
EDWARDSVILLE - An Edwardsville Community Unit School District #7 monitor is going above and beyond to support students by redesigning an elementary school library.
Brittany Green is a monitor and the Parent-Teacher Organization president at Midway Elementary School. Her passion for the school district and the students pushed her to refresh the library at Midway. By going through the books, ordering new materials, and adding a few special touches, Green has revitalized the library into a great space for kids.
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“It had a good setup. It just needed a little fixing,” she said.
Green took on the monitor role at the start of the school year. She has a second grader at Midway and another daughter in fourth grade.
Green enjoyed working in the library, but she quickly noticed that many of the materials were outdated. Students weren’t checking out a good percentage of the books. She decided to go through the library’s collection and take note of what was and wasn’t being utilized.
“I just feel like I knew exactly what everyone wanted to read since I have kids about the same age. So we weeded through the books, and if they were older than me, they probably had to go,” she said. “If they hadn’t been checked out, just maybe due to being too old, or if [the students] can’t read them or look at the pictures in class, and it’s probably not a good bedtime story, then I was just like, let’s find another home for these.”
After refreshing the materials, Green took things a step further. She reorganized the shelves and made sure younger students could access the picture books while older students could enjoy some favorite chapter book series.
She mentioned to her mother, a retired teacher, that she was looking for stuffed animals to decorate the room; that’s all she had to say, and now, the library is full of children’s book characters like Clifford and the Very Hungry Caterpillar.
It was important to Green to help kids enjoy the library. Reading is an important skill, and she wants to empower the students to read and learn. It was also important to her to make the materials accessible. So far, her efforts are paying off.
“At home, we really like to focus on reading, and it was just a big thing for my kids. We loved going to library programs,” Green remembered. “I just thought, since it’s here, we might as well use [the library] and make it fun for the kids, just like how we experienced it as a kid or how we remember going to the school library. The kids really enjoy it.”
Green thanked Midway Principal Matt Sidarous for his support, as well as the other teachers and administrators in District #7. She emphasized her appreciation for the district and her hopes that she can make a positive impact on students at Midway.
“It’s just a great school,” she said. “It’s really nice to be able to actually get to enjoy the kids on this level.”
Green added that she has polled teachers to discover which books they want to see in the library. Families and community members are encouraged to donate items on this list, which will be made public soon.
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