Schlesinger Library & Grace House Renovations Underway

Our committee was asked to make a recommendation on the best use of the current, temporary cafeteria space once the Dining Hall & Commons is complete. We wanted to create a common area that would inspire our faculty to enrich their curriculum. Today, we have innovation going on all over campus, and we all know it is only growing so we are so fortunate to have this available space.

 

First, and most importantly, we will continue to call the library the John-Christophe Schlesinger Library! For those who do not know, John was in the Class of 1989 at NCCS, and he died in a car accident in 1997. John was a brilliant man, and we are overjoyed that we will continue to honor his name. We think he would be proud of the way we are transitioning the library into the digital future.

 

When we met with the Schlesingers, they understood the need for changing with the times. They were also well aware of John Palfrey’s work. For those who are not familiar with him, John Palfrey is not only the Head of School at Andover (where, coincidentally John's sister Katie Schlesinger went to boarding school), but he is somewhat of a guru on the importance of libraries in the digital information age. He wrote the book Biblio Tech: Why Libraries Matter More Than Ever in The Age of Google.

 

Combining our committee’s own research with input from faculty and staff, we are excited to announce that the John-Christopher Schlesinger library will be a hybrid of the physical (the familiar feeling of browsing bookshelves and a community gathering place) – and, thanks to a gift from the Amicus Foundation, the digital, a hands-on lab for collaborating, creating, designing, building and inventing. So many of the faculty and staff talked about the library being a flexible space, and in our plans you will see moveable walls as well as everything on wheels to allow for this kind of flexibility. Borrowing Palfrey’s words, it will be a “lab for the scholar.” A scholar is definitely how we would describe John Schlesinger. 

 

We are pleased to share that along with the renovations to the library, we will also be improving and refurbishing the Performing Arts wing, which will continue to be housed near the auditorium. It will have a total of three large music rooms and will gain two smaller practice or breakout rooms, created by relocating the current archives. All of the Performing Arts spaces will receive new paint, carpet, lighting and acoustical panels for soundproofing.

 

 

 

For more information about future campus plans, visit www.countryschool.net/futurecampus. For information about upcoming hard hat tours, please contact Terry Gumz, Director of Advancement, at tgumz@countryschool.net.