25.05.2022

Students transform an empty locker into a collective library

By Maria Rita Quemello

An empty locker that has been transformed into a collective library has been drawing the attention of students and educators at Beacon. The initiative, which started in 2021, was carried out by a student,  who was in 6th grade (Y6) at the time, and now includes two of her classmates.

“Last year I was packing up my locker and at the bottom of it was empty. When I realized I needed a bigger place at home to store my books, I started to bring them and put them in the empty locker. It got bigger and bigger, until the moment when my friends and I turned that locker into a library,” says the student. 

They divided the space according to the books’ subject and category and made some bookmarks and post-its available to those who borrowed certain books. This year the project has evolved, and the cabinet, located in the Middle School building, now includes a library form. The library has rules, as well as a padlet and an Instagram profile for disseminating information.

The students received support from educators for the project to continue. “This year, the number of book loans increased, and we also received many more. The Portuguese teacher presented the idea to our coordinator. She and the English teacher brought some books and became the project’s tutors,” say the girls.

Besides the teachers, many students contribute to the collective library. The project’s creators say that they receive donations and loans frequently, making it possible for the space to have new titles.   

According to the students, anyone can participate, but when it comes to library management, only the three girls are responsible. They also comment on how the system developed works: “You take a post-it note, write your name, grade, and the name of the book you took. This way, we can keep track of it and, if the owner needs the book, we can locate it using this information”, say the students.

Inside each book is written the name of the owner and the indicative rating. According to them, the student can keep the book as long as he/she needs it, except during vacations, holidays, or weekends.

The students also comment on the need to occupy another locker. “We need a new locker, because at the moment we have only one, which is full. We are thinking of putting one in Y8 so that other students will be interested in the project.”

They conclude by saying: “One thing we would like to do is to pass the project on. There will come a time when we won’t be able to take care of the library anymore. So we want to pass it on to the next classes! We would love to share it with people we know who like books”.