By: Shanna Sweitzer

Walking into school on the first day junior Anika Wagner walks past the school library to make it to homeroom on time. She stops as something catches her eye. In the far corner of the library, she sees a space cleared of shelves and surrounded by big glass walls. The first thing that comes to her mind: what is that?

On Monday, August 31st at 7:33 AM students piled into Hershey High School trying to stay awake as they began their 2015-2016 school year. Students roamed the halls noticing slight changes done to their school during the summer hiatus. There were new clocks, new bells, and a refurbished gymnasium, but the one thing that seemed to get the most students’ attention is the addition to the library. The back corner of the room has been cleared out and boxed in by glass to become Hershey High School’s “Think Tank.”

Back in the summer of 2014, Hershey High School’s National Board Certified Teacher-Librarian, Allison Mackley visited the Penn State Knowledge Commons. Aside from the traditional study space, she discovered large glass rooms in which students could check out. These are called group study rooms that students can either call or go online to reserve for group work. The idea of a closed off space for separate instructional learning intrigued Mackley. She thought it would be a great addition to the high school’s library.

Mackley took the idea straight to the Director of Infrastructure Technology,  David Sweigert, the Director of Instructional Technology,  Traci Landry, and Principal, Dr. Dale Reimann. “[The] labs and library are heavily used by students so the space seemed useful,”  Landry said. They were all on board.

Mackley, Reimann, Sweigert, and Landry placed a bid, and it was approved by the school board for the Capital Improvement Project in which the school district receives money to make additions for educational purposes. After it was accepted, plans were made for construction of the “Think Tank.”

In June of 2015, just after school was out of session, preparations for the tank began. Phillips Office Solutions offered multiple blueprints of potential designs for the new room. “It’s evolved,” Sweigert said about the plan for the space.

Eventually a design was picked. Construction workers and Hershey High School’s maintenance staff worked together and removed shelves from the corner of the library along with many books. New carpets were put in along with a heater and a split AC unit. Then the glass walls were installed. The construction was completed in a little less than a week.

For those students staring confused at the empty glass room with nothing but a TV in it, Landry said, “It will make more sense when there’s furniture.” The plans for adding collaboration tables, mobile chairs, and white boards on the walls have already been made.

“The flat screen TV will have streaming capabilities [through laptops and devices] for students and teachers,” Mackley said.

For the library as a whole, it has many everyday uses. Study hall students are socializing and working on schoolwork, test are being made up by absentees, and sometimes even classes are being taught in the middle of the room. “I used to have to limit study hall students,” said Mackley. Now with the Think Tank, the disruption of these classes to other working students will be avoided.

“It’s another service that’s offered by the library to personalize the space for different uses,” Mackley said. The Think Tank is now ready to be occupied by instructional classes, clubs, or even students looking for a place to collaborate on group projects.

“It’s a test year,” Mackley said, “[We’ll] see how it’s used and go from there.”