I really like turnaround stories and I saw an especially inspirational one come across the ALA Twitter Feed earlier this week. For those that have not looked at the Preston Hollow Advocate’s story about the great progress at the Marsh Middle School Library in the Dallas metro area you should look at the story http://prestonhollow.advocatemag.com/2012/02/24/marsh-middle-students-take-back-their-library/. Photojournalist Danny Fulgencio talks to the head librarian Mary Virginia Meeks about the turnaround efforts and the video is included in the web article. Both students and the library staff pitched in to make the library a welcoming place and according to the article circulation has jumped 150 % from two years ago and 260 students use the library each day. The actions that lead to the transformation include the elimination of student fines, grassroots efforts to obtain funding, and students who worked to renovate the library by cleaning and painting. This is a great article indeed.
I also really liked the story on the CBS Philly website by Cherri Greg see http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/02/29/a-west-philadelphia-public-school-gets-a-better-library-thanks-to-literacy-group/. In this article a literacy group called West Philadelphia Alliance for Children is noted as playing a key role in opening 12 libraries in the south and southwest parts of the city. This is an inspirational article to read.