Lawton High library renovation awaiting lucky 13

Lawton High School Library Media Specialist Amanda Benke is patiently waiting for 13 collaboration tables so she can finish remodeling the LHS library.

Benke’s is one of six secondary school libraries in the district that will be remodeled courtesy of grants from the State Department of Education. The grants were requested from Danna Bross, Project AWARE coordinator for Lawton Public Schools. Each secondary school in Lawton received a $20,000 grant for the project. While each librarian can request their own items, they have to meet the criteria of student well-being, Bross said.

“The response (from the librarians) has been unbelievable,” Bross said. “The librarians want to make it so that students want to be there.”

Benke echoed that sentiment.

“Oh my gosh, I’m obviously excited,” she said. “I have been given the opportunity to improve the space. I can create spaces rather than adding pieces. It has allowed us to revamp the entire space and create a workspace for students.”

Although Benke lacks a few items, she is rearranging the library to make it more inviting. That includes moving bookshelves from the front of the library to make the entry more accessible. She has added area rugs, soft seats, chairs with chargers, tables and lamps, a jigsaw puzzle table and new charging stations.

“I’m mainly replacing old furniture with modern furniture,” she said, including some heavy tables that she estimates are 50 years old and have developed a few wobbles. Those tables are pretty much stationary because of their weight, she said.

“I really can’t move the tables. If we have events here, we can’t move them,” she said.

Another school in the district will inherit the tables when Benke’s new collaboration tables arrive, which Benke described as inverted clover leafs that will be more functional for students and will allow her to create more of a classroom situation.

While the new furniture is nice, Benke said there is another, more important aspect to the project – how it affects the mental health of students.

“Kids say all the time, ‘This is my favorite place in the building.’ It’s warm and inviting,” she said. “Students can come in and sit in a comfy chair or meet up with friends after school. They like how the environment makes them feel.”