SHS students take on library need

The Sisters High School (SHS) has been without a functioning library for over 10 years, making it the only facility in the Sisters School District without this resource. While elementary and middle school students enjoy having a library at their disposal, many high schoolers wondered why there wasn't such a resource available for them.

Seniors Presley Adelt and Molly Greaney recognized this absent space and brought forth the idea in their AP Government class led by Gail Greaney. One of the projects this class carries out is aptly named Government in Action, and encourages students to focus on an aspect within their community or government that they could improve.

"We both thought libraries were important in providing refuge both socially and mentally for people, which is why we focused on it," said Adelt.

The goal of this library is to be a safe space for all, catering to students who need a quiet place to get work done, clubs that need a place to gather, or classes that could benefit from interactions with the facility.

"We want to make it a space people want to be. Healthy schools usually have very vibrant libraries and we want to embody that," says teacher Gail Greaney.

The two seniors describe prioritizing student appeal through surveys, asking for preferences on book genres and in what ways they can utilize the space in the best way possible.

"We want to find out what people want so we can offer those resources for student interests, and hopefully expose them to different types of literature," Greaney said.

However, this feat isn't as easy as it sounds, but with the help of teacher Gail Greaney, and students such as Faith Keeton, Audrie Niemann, and Layla Hicks, considerable progress has been made. So far, the group has shifted the layout to be more welcoming, reorganized books, set up craft and coloring tables, and even power-cleaned decade-old sofas.

These actions have considerable meaning to the students of SHS, who are eager for the project to be completed. Currently, the team is aiming to have the library fully up and running by the end of the school year.