The Rio Americano library has changed a bit since last school year. The library has new furniture and a new layout, and librarian Laura Fierro has been trying to fight the changes.

For over a year district officials have been planning on changing the library to make it look more modern. Before the school district decided to change our library, we had strong wooden shelves lining the walls and room for thousands of books. Now there are over 30 boxes of books stacked around the library with no room to display them.

“I certainly would have liked an input so we could get the shelves we needed,” Fierro said. “We could just end up with books stacked around the library by the end of the school year.”

Fierro tried to suggest different ideas for the library, but the district was set on small, wide metal shelves.

While the previous shelves were five years old, they were still durable. Now, the new shelves are too weak to hold some of the heavier books, and if you are not careful, they will fall while you are browsing the selection.

According to California standards, school libraries should have about 25 books per student. Our library only has four.

“I’m trying to build a good program for you guys,” Fierro said. “I want to make sure you have all the resources you need.”

Our book selection was not the only thing hurt during the change; the computer lab was also affected. Our old library had 17 computers, and now it’s down to nine.

Del Campo and Casa Roble have been affected too. They all got the same furniture and the same small shelves in their libraries.

“Each school has its own needs and population and I think it would be cool to reflect that,” Fierro said. “To me it’s about the students, about the program and about the individuality of the school.”