Mount Union Area High School student Tyler Semple browses books in the newly relocated school library.
By NA’ZYHIA BRADSHAW | Journalism Student, Mount Union Area Senior High School
Mount Union, Pa. — After the Mount Union Area High School library was closed for several years, it has been reopened thanks to English teacher Nancy Corson, who has helped relocate the library and revive its Library Assistant Program, which had been dormant.
Corson noted that the library had been closed for quite some time because the school did not have a librarian or library aide. She initially asked Principal Chad Mickle last fall if she could spend some time in the library getting it back into shape, with the goal of opening it a day or two a week. She utilized teacher volunteers to help make this happen.
As the school year ended, Corson received the news that the library would need to switch locations with the Academy for Customized Learning to accommodate the academy’s rapid growth. She explained, “Since the Academy for Customized Learning has grown so much, they just needed more space. So, by switching the locations of the Academy for Customized Learning and the library, we have created a very nice environment for the Academy for Customized Learning. The library is also a very nice space.”
Toward the end of the year, when some of the Academy for Customized Learning students had finished their courses, they came down and helped pack the boxes for the move. With the help of these students, Corson was able to pack more than 300 boxes of books during her planning periods. She then packed the remaining 120 boxes by herself.
Corson explained, “The students were wonderful and amazing doing that, and I really appreciated it.” She also expressed that the custodial staff was amazing. She never would have imagined moving more than 425 boxes, in addition to all of the furniture and shelves, in one morning. Corson noted that “it was pretty awesome. They worked together like champs.”
Over the summer, Corson talked to teachers about adding library books back into their curriculum this fall. She expressed that the library has lots of history reference material. She reorganized the history reference material and created a timeline from ancient history to the present day. She emphasized that the library has a ton of material that can be used for health classes, pro-con assignments, essays, and research papers. She noted, “I’m just hoping that the teachers will get back into the habit of using the library, and that the students will be excited.”
Corson expressed her gratitude to everyone who helped her along the way. She added, ““Vickie Stewart and Melody Komir established a well-rounded collection; I am grateful to them for the library’s strong bones. I am also grateful to Laurie Aurand who kept the library going for several years in the absence of a librarian. Finally, I am grateful for the school board and superintendent’s support in this project.“
This article was published as part of Ms. Dimoff’s Journalism class at Mount Union Area Senior High School.
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