In addition to serving as an innovative teaching and learning center, the Higgins Library houses our annual Parents’ Association Book Fair
Where did THE LIBRARY Go BLACK SPECTACLES. Hair drawn backwards into a bun. Stern and unapproachable. Often seen with finger held to pursed lips, snarling shush, to overly enthusiastic children. Such is the stereotypical image often rendered of the “older generation’s” middle school librarian. Now, fast-forward to the present, and the modern librarian is the polar opposite. Libraries across the country have replaced yesteryear’s dowdy enforcer of silence with the modern library sciences professional: a technologically savvy people-person, eager to connect curious individuals to a world of information. Visit The Peck School library and you are infinitely more likely to hear the hum of collaboration than the hush of a subdued student slowly thumbing through a card catalog. Gone are the endless rows of bookracks and book spines dotted with Dewey Decimals. In their place, we see groups of comfy armchairs, IdeaPaint on the walls, computer workstations, and collaboration rooms.
over the years. Especially as it relates to research and reference materials, digital resources are far more preferable than printed ones. Why spend thousands of dollars on printed encyclopedias, when they become out of date so quickly as newer research and theory comes to light?
“Not all the books are gone,” explains Mary Kate MacVicar, Peck’s librarian for the past 15 years. “But we need to make sure the print collection is relevant and appropriate for the curriculum. We also need to make sure our library spaces evolve to meet the demands of 21st century learning.”
Mrs. MacVicar cites Pluto as an example: In 2006, Pluto was stripped of its planetary status and this reclassification instantly rendered printed materials irrelevant on the issue. At Peck, students have online access to publications such as the World Book and Encyclopedia Brittanica, which can keep current with the latest academic publications. (Though scientists are still debating Pluto’s unique composition following NASA’s 2015 flyby, it remains technically classified as a “dwarf planet.”)
Mrs. MacVicar has seen the needs of students and teachers evolve
“We have re-invented the library space.” Mrs. MacVicar explains.
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“We prefer to call it a ‘Learning Commons.’” The notion of a learning commons will continue to evolve as Peck transforms its curriculum to highlight design thinking, project-based learning, and new pedagogical styles. A learning commons, unlike a traditional library, is not simply an archive of books. While the space still houses these resources for research and exploration, it also has become a place where students can make meaningful connections with a world of information. Where they can collaborate, push creative-thought boundaries, and become proficient with information literacy.
LeVar Burton of Reading Rainbow fame once said, “it is through stories that we define our world, and discover our place in it. Stories help us understand the world we live in, teach us about where we came from, and help us see possible futures. Stories are our education and our escape. They lull us to sleep and inspire us to action! Indeed, it is through the stories we tell each other that we literally create the world as a reflection of who we are.” Indeed, inspiring a lifetime love of reading—for pleasure, for research, for growth of mind and soul—is a crucial aspiration held by the faculty at Peck. And at the Higgins Library, Mary Kate MacVicar has hit upon an intriguing solution to keep Peck students connected with literature, and their school, over the summer months. Our fourth annual “Postcards to the Library” program at Peck is ‘proof in the pudding,’ so to speak, for just how engaged Peck students are with their love of reading. Each year students are invited to send Mrs. MacVicar a postcard while on their summer travels—sharing what they have been reading, and a little about what they have been doing. This year we received 219 cards from as close by as the Jersey shore, and as far away as Asia! The postcards are on display in the library each fall.
As an article entitled “The New School Library,” in Independent School Magazine states, “A forward-looking library needs to include multifunctional spaces that facilitate studying, researching, meeting, creating, collaborating, and sharing of final student projects. Its strength lies in the relationships it supports, whether these are student-to-student, student-to-faculty, student-to-staff, student-to-equipment, or student-to-information. Effective learning commons are alive with the voices of students working together, establishing the kinds of connections that promote active, engaged learning.” Although the teaching and learning happening in our actual Higgins Library is being transformed, Peck’s librarian is still firmly at the helm of our learning commons. In fact, Mrs. MacVicar has never been more important—she is key assistance for students and faculty as they navigate a vast array of tools and resources, technologies and databases, to access an entire world of academia. (She lives up to the challenge; meeting routinely with Peck’s technology team to ensure learning spaces are flexible enough to meet changing needs.) Mrs. MacVicar also sees her mission as two-fold: In addition to facilitating exploration and research, she is also committed to inspiring a lifelong love of reading in Peck students from a young age. From Kindergarten through second grade, our youngest students travel to the library once a week and are encouraged to see it as a place to read for pleasure, as well as research. Eventually, as students mature into third and fourth graders, they begin to learn basic research skills and techniques for information literacy. By the time students are in the upper school, they are using the library for group projects, 3D printing, robotics exercises, and a host of other collaborative activities. There will be no more fingers to pursed lips in The Peck School library. It is a vibrant, flexible, and enthusiastic place; punctuated by the sounds of learning at its most active.
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