Middle School, here I come!

BEWARE: This post is basically my excitement bubbling over…side-bar notes in (parenthesis) and exclamations !!! are abundant.

It’s been a busy week decorating and snazzing things up at my new (to me, it’s really old and smelly) middle school library! When this opportunity first came about, I wasn’t planning on making any changes since we’re (supposed to be) moving into a brand new school (HOLLA!) for January 2012. The building that we are currently in is ancient, falling apart, and pretty much full of asbestos and mold. (In fact, it is the middle school that I attended in 6-8 grades. I was even a student library worker there, so this is really like coming home.) Since the school is so icky and old, plans for a new school have been in the works for a while and it’s FINALLY coming to fruition.

So despite the fact that we’ll be moving to a new school in the very near future, I couldn’t keep myself from doing a little sprucing up. I mean, I’m going to be spending the majority of my waking hours there. Most of the things can come with us to the new school. And I went with trendy — zebra print, bright blue, neon green, and pink. So do ya wanna see it?? Here are some pictures:

The wood on the front of the circulation desk had seen better days (and those days were long ago), so we covered it with this cute green fabric. Spray adhesive is AWESOME! We also added some little circle mirrors from Hobby Lobby. And of course, I had to put up my favorite Go!Animate characters who will be appearing in lots of videos…I’ll be able to change their word bubbles frequently.

There were some pictures and columns already in the library. We spray painted the frames and columns. The zebra in the picture is fabric and the letters I cut out from scrapbook paper. I think this came out SO CUTE! 🙂

We stenciled some great quotes about books and reading:

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” -Richard Steele

“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” -Margaret Fuller

“There is no friend as loyal as a book.” -Earnest Hemingway

“A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.” -H.W. Beecher

“Books can be dangerous. Some should be labeled: ‘This could change your life.'” -Helen Exley

Quite a few hours went into the stenciling, and I REALLY appreciate all of the help from my mom and friend BJ. They are the best volunteers I have (not just to this, but for everything) and I am so thankful for everything they do.

And those curtains are really shower curtains that I found on sale at Big Lots — SCORE!

There was a cheesy poster (sorry, Marie) to mark the Student Publication Center, so we stenciled there, too.

I’m really proud of myself for putting together the great zebra chair my mom got for me! And the lamp…isn’t it groovy?

I’m so excited and ready to get back to school and see the reactions from students and teachers. Hope the reaction is a good one! I know that they will miss the retiring librarian. She’s one of my mentors and a wonderfully sweet, patient, and compassionate woman. They’ll be getting something a little bit different with me (HA!) but I can’t wait to see what the next few weeks have in store.

If you are impressed with my (and mom’s) mad decorating skillz, leave me some love (as in a comment)!

21 thoughts on “Middle School, here I come!

  1. What an amazing update! Your students and teachers will be psyched when they see it and will immediately feel your passion for all things library. I look forward to reading about all the awesome things you will accomplish there.

  2. Cool! I love the quotes you stenciled on the walls. The zebra touches are wonderful. I know your students and staff are going to love it. Great that even though you won’t be there long you put your mark on it.

  3. What a fantastic job you did! WOW!

    I have just taken over a middle school library that may be in an even sorrier state than yours was (at least you have a circulation desk!) and you have given me some great inspiration about making mine a more appealing place.

  4. Ooh, the kids will love it. I love what you’ve done with all the fabric and stenciling. I don’t know whether you will get to sit down much in your cool zebra chair, but it looks great! Thanks for sharing all the photos.

  5. Love what you did to the library and if you think it is old because you were there in 6th grade, imagine this~it was old when I was there and I have been out of college for 30 years!! YES indeed, the library needed a TIFFANY TOUCH!! What a blessing you will be to both the students and teachers a CMS!!

  6. Where did you get the stencils? I am a new middle school librarian, with 11 years at the elementary level. I can relate. It is good to know you are a Christian, but not overboard when reviewing books.

  7. Just recently started reading your blog and it’s inspired me! I’ve checked many of the sites you mentioned. I especially like Voki. Thanks so, so much.

  8. I love the various quotes! I know several others have asked, but where did you get the stencils (or is this something you did yourself)? Great job!!

  9. I realy liked the way you decorated the library in your school.It inspired me.I also liked the wonderful quotes.WODERFUL JOB!

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