Million Dollar NYC Media Center Searches for a Librarian
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By Rocco Staino -- School Library Journal, 02/08/2010
Need a new job? There’s an opening at a new $1.1 million library, which serves two New York City public schools.
The media center at the Morrisania Educational Campus in the Bronx opened its doors on February 2, complete with a smart board, Apple and Hewlett Packard computers, $114,000 in new furnishings from Brodart, and $100,000 in new books selected by the school’s English coordinator. However, something was clearly missing at the campus, which serves 850 students at the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics and Eximius College Preparatory—a certified librarian.
The principals at both schools say pending mid-year funding cuts had hindered the hiring of a school librarian, but an aggressive recruiting campaign is now underway to find someone to head the library program of the state-of-the-art complex.
“When I met with the architects I told them to put away their pictures of traditional school libraries and to think Starbucks,” says Edward Tom, principal of the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics. “I didn’t want a cookie-cutter library. We are preparing our students for college and I wanted to create the same type of environment they will find at college.”
Designed by the Park Avenue architectural firm STV Incorporated for $149,411, the library is painted and decorated in warm beige and brown tones and has frosted glass and comfortable couches. STV is credited for designing the library addition at the United States Military Academy at West Point and has worked on the renovation of Grand Central Terminal. Surprisingly, the New York City Department of Education Office of 
Library Services had no involvement in the design and planning for the facility.
The library is the result of a two-year campaign led by Tom, which involved lobbying Bronx Borough President Rubin Diaz Jr. and Helen Foster, a member of the New York City Council.
“Principal Tom was very resourceful,” says Foster, adding that he remembered that he went to school with City Comptroller John Liu, who was also a former council member. “He used that connection to reach out to the city council for funding.”
That connection resulted in the school receiving $440,000 from Foster’s office and an additional $660,000 from the Borough President Diaz. Foster says that students at Tom’s school performed well academically and this was a way “to give back to those kids who are the unsung heroes.”
The Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics is the subject of a documentary called “Whatever It Takes.”
