Colorado School Library Is the Scene of Majority of Killings

Staff -- School Library Journal, 5/1/1999

While most school libraries are welcoming places to do research andmeet up with friends, it's unlikely that the library at Columbine HighSchool in Littleton, CO, will do little more than bring back tragic memoriesfor the foreseeable future. Twelve of the 15 students killed on April 20were found there.

Two library paraprofessionals, whose names have yet to be released,were on duty during the rampage. The two took refuge in a closet in the library's back workroom; both were unharmed.

Neither Liz Keating, head of the Columbine High School library, norMary Swanson, another school librarian, were present, as School LibraryJournal reported on April 21, when two students, Eric Harris and DylanKlebold, allegedly opened fire in the suburban Denver school. Keating, wholives two blocks from the school, had gone home for lunch, and Swanson wasnot scheduled to report to work until later in the day.

In all, 52 rounds were fired in the second-floor library and fourbombs were detonated. The library also suffered water damage as smoke fromthe bomb blasts set off sprinkler systems. According to Roberta Ponis, coordinator of library services for the Jefferson County PublicSchools, the library was the most badly damaged room in the school.

The Littleton JCs have established the Columbine High School LibraryFund. They are requesting $10 donations for an "un-dinner" withcontributions going to the school library.