By Sarah Opdahl

The New Fairfield Middle School Library is experiencing a makeover, led by Theresa Foley, the first full-time librarian in the space in several years. Foley had a blank slate when she joined the staff in late summer and has quickly filled the gaps by creating a haven where students not only need but want to spend their time.

There are many improvements ahead for the library, but to increase engagement Foley has introduced ways for the students to interact in what was an underutilized resource. One new destination is the puzzle table, which Foley pointed out “is a favorite area for kids and adults alike.” The current puzzle table is stationed near the entrance of the library and everyone can “take a few minutes to find some pieces and have a chat.” Foley shared, “Besides the books, it is my favorite area of the library too!” Adjacent to the puzzle station are makerspace materials and games.

Library Lunch also provides fun and different experiences for students.  The daily offering provides a place “where students can come and be with their friends. They play games, use makerspace materials, make friendship bracelets, color, study, read, and just generally enjoy the space. This has provided me with the opportunity to build relationships with students across the grades,” Foley said. She added, “Chess and Marble Run are easily the most popular activities.”

NFMS Principal Ms. Karen Gruetzner is thrilled to have the revived resource, “Our library media center is back!,” she exclaimed, going on to say that Foley “is focused on sparking student engagement in reading and getting books into students’ hands. The library has once again become a very appealing space for students.”

Getting students interested in books is indeed Foley’s ultimate goal, in addition to providing research help to teachers and students. With an antiquated collection, Foley needed to heavily sweep when she arrived. “When I entered the library it definitely needed a lot of work!  I had to go through each and every book to organize the collection. It took two to three weeks of hard work before we were fully up and running and ready to welcome students” and she admitted “we still have a ways to go.” Without a librarian on staff, almost no new books were

purchased over the many years and “because of this, my focus is on building our collection of physical books,” Foley emphasized.

In light of the above, it was understandable that Foley emphatically said, “I am ridiculously excited for our first book order!,” which is coming in the next couple weeks, however building the full collection will take some time. Even with the limited collection on hand, Foley has begun to increase circulation, which Gruetzner described as having “surpassed our expectations,” by creating weekly book trailers in the morning announcements, which have gotten great feedback from the students. Astonishingly, Foley said, “I am proud to say we’ve already checked out more books this school year than were checked out the entire 2023-2024 school year,” going on to say, “as we get more new books I expect our circulation numbers to increase exponentially.”

Popular books with middle-school-aged students range widely, but Foley is tuned into what many like and is ordering in response. She gave some highlights, “The Raina Telgemeier graphic novels are always popular (Smile, Sister, and Guts). We get a lot of requests for the Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy which we don’t have, but it’s comin g soon!  The author Alan Gratz has been very popular as well and we have the rest of his books on order.” Foley was grateful to note, “Our PTO has also been very supportive of our library.  They held our first Scholastic Book Fair the week of Open House and it was a very successful fundraiser. They donated about fifty books to the library and promised to purchase all of the books on my Wish List.”

In addition to filling the stacks, the space is now more cozy with lovely new lounge furniture and more modern and efficient circulation desks, while new bookshelves are on order. Foley mentioned that the library will also be painted over the summer.  The refreshed space will only continue to be more welcoming to students and staff and Foley imagines adding more programs and offerings in the future, such as book clubs.

Foley started her career as a third and fourth grade teacher in Brooklyn, New York before taking time off to raise her three daughters who are now 16, 14, and 10. “During this time I went back to school for my second master’s degree in Educational Technology with a library media cross endorsement.  I worked for three years in Danbury as a middle school librarian and now I am so happy to be at New Fairfield Middle School!,” she shared. Though Foley does not have assigned classes currently, she plans to continue to collaborate with teachers and to “push into classes as needed.” She explained, “Reading choice is encouraged and ELA teachers have extensive libraries in their classrooms in addition to our library.  At times classes may be studying a particular genre (for example, historical fiction or dystopian) and students will need to pick a book within that genre but still have book choice,” which she is happy to help them find.

Clearly, Foley is off and running on her mission to revamp the library and she is ecstatic to have taken it on, “The staff and students have all been so welcoming and supportive as I navigate this new position. I am so grateful to be here!”