Services of the School Library Materials Center in the High School

When North Central High School in Washington Township, adjacent to Indianapolis, was established in 1956, a statement of its educational philosophy was prepared, and reads as follows: "To give each student an unexcelled opportunity to grow according to his needs, interests, and abilities, in academic achievement, social poise, worthy use of leisure time, vocational preparation, responsible citizenship, and physical development." In accordance with this philosophy, the school library was planned and organized as an instructional materials center where a variety of materials and media would be available to enrich the curriculum, to challenge the students, to provide recreational opportunities, and to facilitate student use of every medium. During the next seven years, new materials were added continuously to the library, and its services were expanded greatly. However, rapidly increasing school population resulted in over -crowded conditions in the library as well as in the entire school. Consequently, a new seven million dollar building was constructed and opened in September 1963.The librarians were invited to assist in planning the library in the new building. Visits were made to other libraries, and frequent consultations were held with the architect and school administrators. Early in the planning stage, the decision was made to follow the subject divisional plan for the library, because it was generally agreed that this type of physical arrangement would best suit the needs of students and faculty and be more adaptable to modern methods of teaching. According to Dr. Harold Gores of the Educational Facilities Laboratory, "Educational change has architectural consequences." Careful planning and preparation paid dividends, and now the new library, in full swing, is literally "a librarian's dream."published or submitted for publicatio