Posted on Tyler Paper website Thursday, September 13, 2007

T.K. Gorman School Dedicates New Library

By MEGAN MIDDLETON

Staff Writer

Blessings were poured out on the newly renovated library at Bishop T.K. Gorman Catholic School Wednesday as faculty, staff, students and parents gathered for a dedication service.

The new Holy Family Library offers students a more spacious and modern working and studying environment, complete with more than 25 student computer work stations, an electronic media center, a meeting area, a seating area with comfortable cushioned chairs and two flat-screen monitors that will display news and announcements.

"It's literally night and day," Vickie Williams, a Gorman parent involved in the renovation effort said of the change in the library. "It was yesterday and tomorrow - and this is definitely tomorrow."

Previously, the school had two separate libraries - one for middle school and one for high school. The new $425,000 library combines those two spaces for one large open library, adding 700 square feet to the previous design with shelving for an additional 5,500 volumes.

The main high school library was built in 1958, and the middle school library was added in 1982.

Jim Franz, principal of Gorman, said the old library was built for "a different generation of learner."

"This Holy Family Library is a library for the 21st century," Franz said, noting that about a third of the space is for electronic and multimedia resources for students, teachers and the community.

Franz said a lot of people have been involved in the effort since the vision stage, planning what the library should look like. A lot of thought was put into planning the new facility.

"We're thrilled," he said. "The kids are anxious to get in here."

Students will have to wait until the end of next week, though, before the library opens to them for use. The staff has to unload the boxes full of books, move in the furniture and get the shelves up.

Laurie Turman, director of student services at Gorman, said students have been walking by peering in through the doors to catch a glimpse of what it looks like.

"They cannot wait for the library to open," Ms. Turman said. "It's happened while they are here, so it's really their library. ... Everybody is so excited."

Maggie Murph, a senior at Gorman, said she is excited about the new library, particularly the extra computers.

"Last year, if I wanted to get on a computer before school I had to get here so early just to get on one," Murph said. "Now it sounds like there is enough for everyone."

Murph and fellow senior, Daniel Cline, said they were looking forward to using the comfortable chairs the new library offers as well as the projector screen, which seniors can use to make presentations.

Both students said they felt the library was more inviting.

"The environment here is more of a friendly environment, more open," Cline said. "I'm excited to see the finished project."

Chi-Shim Wellmon, the librarian, said opening a new library is exciting because the students deserved a better facility.

"A few years ago, we had parents starting to talk about instead of just (doing) patch-up work, we wanted the library to be a more attractive place for the students, (for them) to be excited about books and about the library," Ms. Wellmon said.

She said the renovated library is a multi-functional facility that can accommodate more classes, showcase student art work and host workshops and other community activities.

The effort to renovate the library was parent-driven, as was the fundraising effort.

Vickie Williams said the effort started several years ago when a group of parents started thinking the library needed new carpet, and it snowballed from that.

"It was just old," Ms. Williams said. "It had not been renovated in quite a while."

Friends of the Library, which is a committee of parents, led the effort to upgrade the library.

Ms. Williams said she got involved because, "I want the library to be somewhere (students) want to go. It's going to encourage their studying. It's going to encourage reading. I think they are going to want to come here."

And she expects students will flock to the new area.

"I've seen the kids looking in the doors, and they're like, 'oh, wow,'" Ms. Williams said. "These kids deserve a great library."

She said she fully expects to start getting the afternoon phone call from her children of, "'Hey, don't come pick me up until 4 - I'm going to the library,'" she said.

The 6,100-square-foot construction project was completed by Tyler-based Geaux Corporation under the direction of Jerry Fackrell.

Ms. Turman sees the renovated library as a testament to the strength of the school.

"Next year will be our 50th year, and this is another example of how much the parents support our school, their volunteerism, their financial and spiritual commitment to school and God," she said. "Here were are 50 years later, stronger than ever, and this is an example of that strength."