Joplin High librarian outlines strategies that boosted circulation and student engagement

Amber Cooney, the Joplin High School librarian, told the board she has focused on making the high school library an intentional, welcoming space to increase student engagement and circulation.

Cooney said she began by curating the environment and communicating a clear vision to classes so students see the library as a welcoming space rather than a strictly silent room. "This is kind of a, this is a welcoming space for you guys and so, kind of dispelling the myth that the library has to be a quiet place," Cooney said.

She described actions to improve access and remove barriers: acquiring high-interest books with low reading-level vocabulary for struggling readers, waiving prior fines so students could check out books immediately upon entering high school, and adding e-book and audiobook access so students can continue reading offsite. Cooney also said she applied bookstore-style visual merchandising to displays and used passive programming—puzzles, collaborative Sudoku, magnetic poetry and LEGO areas—to draw students in without intensive staffing demands.

To build teacher buy-in, Cooney said she attends PLC meetings, offers professional resources on request, and runs a "library lottery" that rewards teachers with planning-period assistance when selected; she described a system of reward cards teachers can give students for good behavior or academic improvement. Cooney reported year-over-year circulation growth through February and said the library recorded 210 class visits in February alone.

Board members and administrators praised the librarian’s work and invited colleagues to visit the high school library during school hours to observe the activities described by Cooney. The presentation focused on soft programmatic changes with reported measurable gains in visits and circulation; the district did not attach a dollar amount to the initiatives during the presentation.