Over the summer, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School completed renovations to update the media center. The changes were unveiled to students during the second week of school, starting on Monday, Aug. 28.

In the media center, the old carpeting was torn out and replaced; this was the biggest improvement to the library.

“I think the new carpet adds countenance and vibrancy to the room, bringing a peaceful and calm atmosphere; however, I wish they incorporated more works of student-made art,” sophomore Saoirse Popen said.

Media specialist Diana Haneski has helped plan the changes and has been going through all the books deciding what to get rid of. The books that are old, tearing apart and are not relevant anymore are taken out and will be replaced by new ones. The stickers are still going on and the new books will be ready for checkout in the coming weeks.

The layout of the media center has also changed. There is no longer shelving lined up at the front of the library. Curved shelves that have sections and can be moved together in different ways replaced them. The new shelving helps make the layout of the library more open as it takes up less space.

Towards the back of the library, the Promethean boards have been reorganized. They were once placed together and are now more spread out.

“I love the drastic changes to the media center, the layout change makes it look so great and I love the peaceful atmosphere the media center gives off,” junior Sammi Pham said.

On the windows, there are new window wraps that allow you to see out when inside the library, but from the outside, you can only see the design over the windows. This is similar to several other spots on campus, including the front office.

“Every year I’ve done something to improve the media center, but this is the first time that you actually could see it because so much was done at once,” Haneski said.

Haneski tries to update the media center every year with different developments. She is very happy with this year’s improvements and is excited to continue the improvements in future years.

The renovation cost over $50,000, and the funding came from Broward County Public School’s SMART bond program, as well as a portion of the annual school budget for the media center.

SMART stands for Safety, Music & Art, Athletics, Renovation, Technology and is funded through an $800 million voter approved bond measure that passed in 2014.

This story was originally published in the October 2023 Eagle Eye print edition.