Continuous Improvement

Opening Doors, Opening Minds: the 46 gets a much needed make-over and the school gets a much needed library!

Ermitage has long had a full-fledged library on its wish list.  Now, as an IB World School offering the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP), this wish has become a reality.

Prior to this, Ermitage had a Centre de Documentation et d’Information (CDI).  The school’s documentaliste outfitted the CDI with an extensive WiFi computer bank.  Research was internet-based and served the purposes of the both the lycee-level Travail Personnel Encadre (TPE) and the college-level IDD work.  The documentaliste helped to coordinate with faculty and students as requested.

For further research and general reading requirements, students had memberships and access to both the local library in Maisons-Laffitte and the American Library in Paris (ALP).  With its extensive English language-based collection, the ALP served primarily the school’s international and bilingual students.

In order to meet IBDP standards, there arose a need to create a new physical space on the school’s campus.  During the extensive renovations undertaken on the main house at number 46, the ground floor and lower level were dedicated to the creation of a reading library and new computer lab.

The library alone was an ambitious project.  On-site visits and fact-finding missions were carried out at a large number of local schools in the area, as well as with other international schools around the world.  All of the librarians were quite envious of the school’s situation of being able to start from scratch and plan out its own collection – not forced to adapt an older system.

As a result of the interviews conducted and conferences attended, Ermitage established a very clear process of how to grow its library.  The school first developed a collection that serves the priority needs of its students and faculty.  A detailed acquisitions plan was drawn up to balance a print-based collection with online offerings.  The goal is to achieve a collection of 10,000 to 12,000 books complemented with subject-specific databases, hosted primarily by the leader in web-based resources EBSCO.

Overseeing the process is Ermitage’s new bilingual librarian, Abigail Altman.  She will guide and develop the French and English collections, lead workshops designed to help students do research for papers and group projects, and coordinate with faculty in order to enhance the learning experience in every classroom.

After nearly a year of intensive work, the new “grande maison” will benefit the entire school.  The library and classrooms will be open to and used by all students – and by all diploma programs.  In this way, Ermitage hopes to encourage the exchange and mixing of students, faculty and, most importantly, ideas!