Video by: Deacon Anthony Gagliani
Summary of the story told below:
Deacon Anthony Gagliani explains the Mount Saint Charles library below and how it has transformed over the years. He starts by explaining how the library has shifted from just an ordinary library to a media center. He notes how it is "a place of collaboration where students get together and work with one another." Then he moves on to explain how there is also a cafeteria within the library where students can grab a coffee or snack and simply relax while they are waiting for their ride home. He further goes on, saying that having the technological aspect of the library expands it much greater than if the students were just confined to books and the traditional understanding of what a library is. Lastly, he explains how there is a room off to the side of the library which is dedicated to silent study. In order to help with keeping it silent, it has sound proof windows and doors so that the noise level is kept down to a minimum. He wraps it up saying that it is a place of collaboration, socialization, technology, and study all mixed into one awesome place!
Closed Captioning for Video:
Hello, my name is Deacon Anthony Gagliani and I am the Chaplain at Mount Saint Charles Academy and I am also a Religious Studies Teacher. I teach 8th grade and 11th grade and I have helped out with the library at Mt. St. Charles for a number of years. Basically what the library is - it's a media center now, no longer just a library where there are books and periodicals, but it also has a technological aspect of it - it is a place of collaboration where students get together and they work with one another. Now, during the COVID-19 situation that we find ourselves in now, that is a little bit of a challenge. This year, I think the library will probably morph a little bit more into a study location or a place that's more of a sanctuary, a refuge where students can come and work on various things. They can work in small groups, possibly, as long as they are keeping their distance that they need to keep in that situation. There is also a cafeteria within the library. Under normal circumstances that is open to allow students to grab a coffee, or maybe get a snack, and they can enjoy that and relax. It is more of a place that a lounge/library rather than an academic library where students are regimented and they are sitting in the more traditional form. Now, some of the things that have taken place over the years are that one time it had a repository of many books. Some of those books still exist, some of them have been discarded, and others of them, as far as periodicals, and maybe some types of journals they had have been digitized so students can access the digitally. Also students might be able to access some of the archives that are available at the Brothers of the Sacred Heart residences in Pascoag, because they have more of a history archive at that particular residence, more geared toward the history of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart and the institution itself. But there are students that may want to research particular things and that is available to them. They have the J-Store network, which helps students be able to get the materials they need delivered to them digitally and they can do that at the library at their convenience or they can save it and go to another locations, so they don't have to be in the library to take advantage of what is in the library. Having the technological aspect of it expands that much greater than it would be than if the students were just confined to books and the traditional understanding of what a library is. So as a media center, it works well in that way. Also, as a media center, it is a place of collaboration so that they can collaborate on projects or technological situations of all different levels. There is a room off to the side of the library which is/was dedicated to silent study. That particular room is, maybe, set apart, has sound proof windows and doors so that the noise level is kept down to a minimum that might be emanating from the library because it is much more than a social area than that particular room. And that is basically the library at Mt. St. Charles in a nutshell. Thank you and have a great day!