Now, they call it a “media center.”
It still looks like a library, but the large, open room in a centralized location at Iola Middle School bears little resemblance to the library where students checked out books for decades.
The walls are a bright and inviting white, held up by columns painted in school colors of yellow and blue, replacing the 90s-style turquoise from a renovation project decades ago.
It was long past time for an update.
“It really hasn’t been updated since 1993,” IMS Principal Brad Crusinbery said.
When longtime librarian Cynthia Carr retired at the end of the school year, Crusinbery and Assistant Principal Scott Brady decided it was a good time to make changes.
“We wanted to make something a little more inviting so kids would want to come. They’d want to read. They’d want to work,” Brady said. “Our goal is to give kids as many opportunities as we can at our school, with the resources we have. We need them to read and we wanted to create a more inviting place.”
Crusinbery and Brady recognized that students weren’t using the library as often as they could. They realized a slight shift, incorporating types of technology students are comfortable with, would encourage them.
“Maybe they’re not coming in for a book but if they walk into this room and think it looks cool, maybe they’ll check it out,” Crusinbery said.
It seems to be working.
Rachel Palmer, the new library media instructor, said she’s seen an increase in students coming into the library and checking out books or other resources.
She taught at IMS for three years and has a master’s degree in library media and technology integration. She was always fascinated by creative ideas for using technology in the classroom, and the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated that digital shift.
“Libraries are one of the few free resources people have access to,” Palmer said. “They’re learning it can be a resource, whether it’s coming in and getting books or using the technology.”
The USD 257 Board of Education will have its meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at the IMS Mustang Media Center. The meeting is open to the public.
LET’S WALK INTO the new media center and library.
Gone is the behemoth of a circulation desk that took up the center of the room. Instead, visitors walk into a wide, open space with a handful of tables and colorful chairs that can easily be moved.
Bookshelves line one wall, with a series of shelves lined in front. Instead of the old Dewey Decimal system, books are arranged by genre. Sports. Fantasy. Animal fiction. The goal is to make it easier for students to find the kind of books they want, librarian Palmer explained. Stuffed animals, toy characters and sporting equipment are arranged on top of the shelves to reflect the kind of books you’ll find below.
A new esports after-school club will meet at the Media Center. 
Iola Middle School journalism students added a short news video to their slate of accomplishments this year. A screenshot, above, shows a student reporter reviewing a recent cross country meet. 
A studio is at the library media center and features a green screen and photography equipment. 
Action figures line the top of a bookshelf to help students identify the genre that fits their interests.
“That’s one of the small hooks we’re hoping to create,” Palmer said. “Maybe a student doesn’t like to read, but he wanders by and comes in to look at the football helmet. Then he looks down and sees a book about Patrick Mahomes.”
The redesign actually created more space for books, not less. Administrators sorted through books and discarded titles that weren’t getting checked out, but still have more than 10,000 books available.
