Updated technology, newer furniture and a more vast book selection has helped to make the Pattonville library a favored space to be in the school, which has led to a significant increase in student visits as well as book checkouts.
The library has been updated over the last two school years with newer features like self-checkout, more comfortable seating and a more diverse selection of books to choose from. The library saw a 50% increase in book checkouts from the 2024 fall semester to the 2025 fall semester.
Librarians Kristen Tinsley and Kim Stinnett noted that students not only visit the library to check out books, but to work independently.
“I think there’s more students coming to the library to find a space to work or a quiet space to just kind of decompress,” Tinsley said.
Senior Ariana Doss said that the library brings a more relaxed atmosphere to her school days and that she goes there more often than she did during her freshman year.
“We go there for more projects now that I’m a senior, and I enjoy it because it’s a cozy environment and the setting is easier to work in, at least for me,” Doss said.
Junior Grace Howard said that the newer technology can be beneficial to many students for plenty of different reasons.
“Personally, I like the self checkout because I can be shy sometimes and using it has made me
more comfortable knowing I won’t have to talk to anyone in order to use it,” Howard said. “It makes for a quicker process too in case I’m in a rush.”
Senior Isabella Nerio said that she went to the library more frequently during her freshman year due to her busier schedule now, but when she does go she feels productive. “I don’t go as much as I’d like to but when I do I feel like I genuinely get so much more done than I do when I’m in class,” Nerio said. “Class can be distracting sometimes.”
Teachers are also using the library regularly for projects, and some students have said they enjoy this change.
“I go there for different reasons now but mostly when I do, it’s for a class. I like that teachers go more in junior senior classes,” Doss said. “I think we deserve to be able to have a change in scenery.”
Howard said that students in the library are more productive and collaborative now than they were in previous years.
“Mostly when I see students in the library, I see them using it to hang out and study with each other,” Howard said. “When I was a freshman and sophomore, people used it more to be by themselves and not really doing much.”
With seniors having busier schedules, including things like AP classes and CNA, going to the library might not be the first priority, but it could be a goal.
“Now that I’m in CNA I don’t really have time to go to the library as much but the librarians are really helpful,” Nerio said. “The librarians are really helpful, they always help people find good things to read, I’m not into books as much as I want to be, but they don’t make anyone feel bad about that.”
Howard said that she appreciates that the library is open for students sometimes during lunches.
“I use the library to go there for lunch sometimes rather than having to sit in the lunchroom,” Howard said. “[The lunchroom] can be too loud most times and I like reading during lunch anyways.”
Tinsley makes sure to take student interests into consideration when choosing new books for the library.
“I try to read a lot of YA books, which are the most books that we have here, but I also look at a word list,” Tinsley said. “I really honestly look at a lot of the trends, and I talk to students and teachers about what they want and what they’re interested in.”
Doss explained that she enjoys how the library sometimes caters to younger audiences, having more common interests of high school students to look for in the books available.
“I’ve checked out more books this year than I did last year, the new selections that they have, I love them,” Doss said. “There’s way more romance books and modern options which I enjoy, that way I don’t have to go and buy a book from like Barnes & Noble, I can just go to the library instead.”
