Burnside High School, Christchurch

This secondary school library is part of a new administration block that opened in 2006. Its rectangular footprint has been creatively broken into separate spaces incorporating a substantial collection of resources, activity and learning spaces all of which are heavily used by Burnside High School staff and pupils.

The current layout also reflects the considerable and considered thinking and planning required to fully maximize and future-proof the library’s architectural space and layout.

Around the library’s collections are a number of activity and learning spaces. Behind the green wall there are two designated reading areas, separated by the main fiction collection. One of these reading areas was designed for relaxed leisure reading, and features collections of magazines, sophisticated picture books and graphic novels.

There is also a glass-walled seminar room for class use and silent study. The room features a ceiling-mounted data projector and screen.

The Study Zone has been designated a quiet study area for senior students while the east-facing end of the library features a learning lab containing 20 computers and large tables for in-class collaborative class use. Adjoining it is an open-plan class area (the Infolink space) also used for research and for teaching information literacy skills.

The main entrance is at the other end of the library close to the help desk. Behind the help desk is a large work area, dominated by the indispensable island workbench. The area contains the TLR office, storage and processing space.

The library has two issue desks. One forms the front of the office and the other, directly across the room, is operated by student librarians at peak demand times.

Other library features include an exhibition display case, and current (and popular) Information File with pull down drawers that allow for quick alphabetical access to the contents. Bat-winged OPAC stands are positioned around the library walls that also feature contemporary artworks from artists, including Nigel Brown and Robert McLeod.