Disrupting the Library

by Mike Davis, Ph.D.
Head of School

 

Colorado Academy was one of 14 forward-thinking schools that was asked to work with the design-thinking company, IDEO, to experiment with ways to re-engineer the business model of schools.  For independent schools across the nation, creating financially sustainable systems and programs is critical for their long-term existence. This program was created by a friend of mine named Mark Levinson, who is the Executive Director of MISBO, an organization that supports independent school business officers.

 

Although many of us don’t like to think of our institution as a “business”— CA very much is one.  We charge tuition that sustains a significant percentage of our operations.  We offer a “product” of high quality that is delivered in an ethical manner. What we do is not “transactional,” but we do operate with high levels of accountability. It is a major reason why the work we do as caring, dedicated educational professionals is so important in the lives of our students and families.  The schools that are working with IDEO have been tasked to closely examine some major issue facing their institutions or take on some programmatic improvement.  Our goal is to look at these issues with some creativity.

 

CA's librarians Allie Bronston and Allison Peters Jensen, along with CA CFO Alanna Brown, and I spent time at IDEO several weeks ago to think about ways we can make our libraries more of a central part of the CA experience. We know that there is no great institution of learning that does not have a robust library. We are very fortunate at CA to have expert librarians who are committed to helping our students and faculty.  There is a strong sense that our libraries in the LS, MS, and US could be more integral to the learning of our students.  Our students live in an age in which they are saturated with data.  Yet, we also know that  “facts” and “truth” have become fleeting concepts.  How do we help students navigate this world? Well, we think the library at CA is an important part of that process.

 

If we think about the companies that have been highly successful recently, like Netflix, Airbnb, Amazon, Google, and Apple, we know that a key to their success has been their willingness to be disruptive.  We ask that you have an open mind and some patience as we think about “disrupting” the normal life of a library in our school.  There are many things that the Library Staff has come up with, and I commend their creativity. 

Next week, we are going to experiment with a known driver of foot traffic: the Coffee Cart. This will include an effort to drive more kids into the Upper School Library. Is it gimmicky? Yes. Will it cause some issues? Undoubtedly. The coffee will be for school faculty from all divisions and Upper School students only.  (We will be working on something similar for LS and MS students.)

 

The Coffee Cart will be in the lobby of the library each morning ‪from 7:45-10:45 a.m. for Upper School students.  Beverages can be paid for with cash or charged to school accounts. We are encouraging students to spend a little time in the library enjoying coffee drinks, playing games, and sharing answers to the question, "What can our library become?"  We want to learn from students what they would like to see in their school library.  

 

After sending a message about this to our faculty, mathematics and economic teacher Austin Harvey sent me this article from The Atlantic. Mr. Harvey talks about this theme of disruption in his class. The article focuses on the decline of retail marketing and the reasons behind it.  

 

One of the most interesting reasons is that more and more Americans are choosing to spend their money on experiences rather than material expenses. This is good news in many ways, as I think experiences are things that help us grow as human beings.  Essentially, this experiment is intended to improve the experience of going to the library.  If we can do that, we know learning will happen.