Sunday, December 8, 2024
Uniondale High School celebrated a new chapter in education with the grand unveiling of its revamped library, designed to foster learning and creativity, last Friday.
“Now we’ve added to the high school another place where truth and correct information can be found,” Reece Rene, Uniondale High senior and student Board of Education member, said, “at a time where it’s very rare to find.”
The new library has freshly painted walls and new flooring for a fresh look. Shelves filled with teen books, fiction and nonfiction, line the room for students to browse and read, with some books propped up on display on the tops of the shelves for easy access and to draw attention.
There are plenty of work spaces, like tables and couches, throughout the library for students to spend their free periods studying and lounging.
The library was one of various construction projects the district underwent over the course of the summer into the new school year to improve its facilities.
The unveiling of the new library came with a festive ribbon cutting ceremony that brought together the student body, school administrators and community members, all present in support of the new learning space.
Shawn Brown, Uniondale High’s new principal, spoke of his pride for the project and its personal importance to him.
“There are people that were born, lived and died dreaming of spaces like this,” he said. “For myself, my church and my library was the only safe space that I could just be myself.”
He addressed the students, telling them to “just pick up a book” when they are feeling frustrated or “tired of TikTok and Instagram and everything else” because “that’s the most valuable thing you can do.”
School administrators from throughout the district, as well as some community members, like representatives from the Uniondale Public Library, were also present for the ceremony, and Brown addressed them too.
“I also want to encourage the visitors that are here (to) make it a regular occurrence,” he said. “Come read with some of our students. Mentor them. The door is always open for you. This is your community as well.”
The event brought together many members of the Uniondale school district, including Board of Education president Mary Bediako, who is “so grateful that we can give this to our children.”
“Students, make good use of it,” she implored. “Yes, make us proud.”
Students showed up for the unveiling of the new library as well, exploring their new space and watching the performances by the Uniondale High School Band and the Rhythm of the Night Show Choir to commemorate the occasion. Some seniors spoke in approval and gratitude of the library.
Rene shared love for the new library and its presence as a “safe space on our high school campus.”
“There is an invaluable experience of reading a book that you can connect to and feel seen in that can only be found in a library,” Rene said, “a place for creatives, learners and people to be themselves no matter their background or identity.”
Yuniya Phillip-McBride, another Uniondale High senior, expressed her gratitude for the refurbished library. She said she plans to be an educator in her future, and she understands that her future students will “need a place for themselves, a place to study, a place for peace and quiet, as it can get very hectic in these hallways.”
That place for her, she said, is the library: “a place to study for me, a place to read, a place to gain knowledge.
“This place is somewhere that is near and dear to my school experience,” Phillip-McBride said, “and I’m looking forward to spending my free time here.”
