Scheduled to close for remodeling later this year, the Palo Alto High School Library will implement changes meant to create a more student-centered environment for collaboration.

According to librarian Rachel Kellerman, she and Principal Kim Diorio are hoping to replace the old-fashioned look that characterizes the current library with a very different, more modern aesthetic.

“We’re going for contemporary cozy,” Kellerman says.

According to Kellerman, the library is a teaching, study, creation and relaxation space. To ensure that all of these functions are achieved, she intends to increase accessibility and student space by 20 percent. An abundance of soft seating and high cafe tables will be located near the entrance of the library while open, high density stacks of lesser-known books will be stored near the back.

Transparent collaboration rooms will also be available as a space for students to be louder, while study rooms that epitomize tranquility will be built solely for quiet student use. Multipurpose rooms will double as teaching spaces and collaboration rooms for students, who can use a large whiteboard divider to create separate spaces for club meetings.

Finally, the library will no longer serve as a “passthrough” for students traveling across campus. Instead, hallways will be installed adjacent to the library and function as a gallery section displaying student art along the walls.

“The idea is that it’s a place for students, celebrating student work,” Kellerman says.