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It’s probably safe to say that growing up every high school student would have loved a place where athletes, musicians, bookworms, poets and faculty could socialize, study and enjoy good food and good company on campus. Well, that has become a reality for Holbrook High School students. The school’s library is now home to the new student lounge and cafe, the Roadrunner Roost.
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The HHS library has not seen a remodel since the original build of the school in 1977. Holbrook Unified School District Business Manager Jacob Boyle explained that the carpet was in bad condition and the floor needed to be redone. With more than 14,000 books to move and replace in order to redo the flooring and many books obviously outdated, Boyle knew a downsize was possible.
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Upon his request, Boyle retrieved a list of books and encyclopedias that hadn’t been checked out in more than 50 years and began the process of condensing the massive collection.
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After eliminating the unused books from the area and seeing how much space was available, it was time to decide how the extra room could be used to benefit the students. Boyle explained, “Eventually we landed on a student union type space, where students can hang out, socialize, eat, relax, entertain themselves, etc.”
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Because the floor was already being done, funds were previously secured through the school district to replace it. Boyle stated, “There were three major funding sources for this project. The flooring, something that needed to be done, was paid for from district funds. The café is an extension of our food service program and was paid for by the food service program.”
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Because the café was funded by the food service program, the school follows the guidelines set by the program for all food and beverages served. Boyle clarified, “The food service program does not prohibit coffee. They have strict guidelines on sugar and sodium as well as other nutritional guidelines but serving coffee is not prohibited.”
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Lastly, the furniture was paid for, indirectly, by the students. Explaining that anytime student groups utilize the school’s services above and beyond, such as the vans or buses for off campus activities, the money collected goes into a fund that grows over the years and is re-invested into the students. “This time we chose to re-invest the funds into the library remodel.”
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Addressing some concerns brought to his attention Boyle added, “some are under the impression or have the concern that we did away with the library and that is not the case.” Explaining that, yes, they did reduce the amount of non-fiction books that had not been checked out but do plan to replace them with more of the materials that students do read. “We currently have 10,800 titles in our library. Assuring that the other 2,700 books that were removed did get either donated or sold to students and the senior center.”
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Roadrunner Roost has a café, lounge and multiple study spaces equipped with tables for study and charging stations for the Chrome books that the school replaced the old desktops with. During the open house on Aug. 15, Boyle said that the success is already obvious as there has been anywhere from 20-35 kids in the new lounge studying on a daily basis.
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One of HHS’s seniors, Monica Shimea gave a genuine response when she was asked what she thought of the new student lounge saying, “It makes us feel important, special to know that this was done for the students, oh, and the water machine is really cool, it’s strawberry infused!”
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The high school English department is taking advantage of the casual environment and plans to offer tutorial services to students during lunch. The students can eat and work through lunch if they choose.
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Boyle stated that while there is no intention to compete with Trina Bop’s Cakery and Coffee Shop, a favorite lunch stop located blocks from the high school, patrons are welcomed to utilize the café as well. Anyone who is not a student or faculty member must enter through the front office.
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The lounge will be primarily operated by the students. They’ll have the ability to schedule poetry readings or performances. Boyle added that they have already scheduled their first speaker reading, which was held last week, and plan to do one every month moving forward. The readings are open to the public as well.
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