Beautiful disruptions – new carpet

Sometimes a BIG change can cause big disruptions. We have needed new carpet in our library for the 9 years I have been at our school and finally this summer we were given the go-ahead to recarpet. I knew we needed carpet tiles and darker colours, thanks to being at a Kevin Hennah seminar at an ECIS library conference in Waterloo,  so the selection of the carpet was the easy part. The hard part was packing all our collection into boxes at the end of the year.

So early June we packed. we colour coded the boxes so that each different part of the collection was easily identifiable. We packed backwards (starting at the Z or the 999.99) so we could unpack forwards (starting with the A or 000).

We also consulted with our colleagues and students to get ideas for a redesign of the layout of the collection. With a disruption like putting everything in a box that meant we could change the layout of the library collection and the furniture. We didn’t get new shelves but we did get one internal wall knocked down.

I returned to work two and half weeks before all the other staff and began the process of putting the shelves in the right places and then unpacking the boxes. It was really hard work but this week, with the return to school of our students, it has been worth it. Everyone is so pleased with the new layout.  We may not have new shelves or new furniture but with the change in layout and organisation, everyone is seeing this as a beautiful disruption.

I am giving us until the end of October to complete the process with new signs to design and go up. we still have to work out how to use the new space and where some things will go.

I have included some before and after photos to show you