In a recent all-school assembly and the 2024 State of the School Address, Head of School Tom Dillow announced a new renovation to the Kingswood Oxford campus: a renovated library and dining hall that will serve as a communal center for KO.
A renovation of the library will affect every member of our community, including students in the Upper School and Middle School as well as faculty and alumni. The renovated area will include a new outdoor patio space, small group study rooms, a new classroom, and a fireplace. The latest development has been in the works for a few years and is part of the new strategic planning process our school has implemented. “It will support and provide resources for our students that they didn’t have before,” Mr. Dillow said.
In a recent article, “There’s Nothing Like A Library” by school archivist Brenda Semmelrock, published in KO’s alumni magazine, the complex history of KO’s library was detailed. In the late 1940s, Kingswood School did not have a library. Many books were given to teachers or kept around campus. In 1950, the third floor of the Nicholson building was designated as the school’s library. It was run not by a librarian, but by fifth and sixth form students during their free periods. A few years later, the first librarian was hired and the Kingswood Oxford school book collection started to grow with new fundraising efforts and donations. Today, we have over 25,000 books.
It was in 1968 that the library was finally moved to its current location and became known as McGuin Hall. It was designed by students in architecture classes while volunteers helped set up the library and move boxes of books. The library was later renovated in the late 1970s.
Current Kingswood Oxford librarian Nancy Solomon joined KO in 1996 as a librarian for the Middle School. However, two years later, she became the librarian for the Upper School. Mrs. Solomon redid the entire library when she started as an Upper School librarian and has rearranged it six times since to keep it up-to-date and relevant. The first time she rearranged the library, she was told by the Head of School at the time that she could do whatever she wanted. She enlisted the help of her daughter, her friends, her husband, and her family friends, and worked hard for over 40 days to rearrange every book and shelf in the place.
Since then, the library has become an essential area for students to hang out, for forms to meet and collaborate, and for students to study for their classes. Mrs. Solomon helps students with their research papers or Senior Thesis. This collaborative dynamic, however, was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Mead Dining Hall, which was able to accommodate eight students per table, was now able to only accommodate four with the social distancing guidelines. “They had to turn the library into an extra dining room to allow for adequate distancing to keep everyone healthy,” Mrs. Solomon said. The books in the library were moved to the storage area at the squash courts on Highland Street. Over 700 boxes were moved, and the entire library was rearranged again.
Now that the threat of the pandemic has diminished, the books and shelves could be brought back. However, with the renovation coming forward, there is no need for anything to be brought back until the new library is finished.
The Community Commons will help our community in many ways but will require approximately 11-12 months of construction. It is a $17 million project. Cost was an important part of the project. The school is keeping the original structure and base of the current library and dining hall, which will save a lot of money. The school has been fundraising for the new Community Commons, which is part of a wider plan to invest more in academics and student life on campus. Many alumni, parents, and grandparents of students have made generous donations to help finance the new renovations. The school also recently sold its property next to the Trout Brook soccer fields where the Children’s Museum was located for more than $10 million, much of which will be allocated to supporting the renovations.
The library and dining hall will both be under construction during the 2024-2025 school year. Students will most likely eat in Soby Gym. Despite being unable to eat in the dining hall, the school remains committed to serving the high-quality hot meals that they have served students this year. “We are happy to be able to continue our meal service,” Mr. Dillow said. “Things should be very similar to how they are this year.”
The loss of the library during this time will lead to more people in areas such as Roberts Lobby, Upper and Lower Chase-Tallwood, and the Leadership Center. Many people believe that the construction will lead to fewer quiet spaces on campus. However, Mrs. Solomon will be moving to the Leadership Center and creating a temporary library there. That space will be a quiet area for students to study or request help from Mrs. Solomon for an essay, project, or senior thesis. Other possible spaces for studying could be outside, in the areas in front of CT or Roberts.
A signature feature of the new Community Commons is the outdoor space, which will contain two patios—one larger and one smaller. The importance of these new spaces cannot be overstated. “During COVID, we noticed how much people liked being outdoors,” Mr. Dillow said. “We also noticed that there aren’t many outdoor spaces on campus.” The new outdoor patio will allow students to eat, work, and hang out with their friends outside.
The new library will also contain small group study areas and a classroom. Currently, the only small group areas on campus are the two rooms located on the bottom floor of CT. These new study rooms will also be larger than the CT conference rooms. In a recent KO News article, students were surveyed about what they wanted in a library. Most students requested study rooms or places. The classroom in the new library will allow teachers to bring classes there or for Mrs. Solomon to teach a class.
Knowing that these two things were essential for the Community Commons, Mrs.Solomon worked with the architects to make sure everything looked as nice as possible. The dining hall will also experience some changes. The floor and the ceiling will both be replaced during the renovation. The school is also exploring some new furniture options such as high-top tables in the middle. In some of the renderings Mr. Dillow presented during the assembly, the new area was much more open and more efficient in its use of space. There will also be a fireplace in the areas where the storage rooms are in the current library.
Finally, there will be a new atrium in the lobby between the current library and dining hall. Both bathrooms and the DEIB room will be moved to create a bigger space. This area will have lots of seating areas. The school is also looking at spaces where some students can eat in the atrium. The atrium’s size will be similar to Oxford Hall. “We are going for a Starbucks feel in the atrium,” Mr. Dillow said.
As we prepare for the renovations, Mrs. Solomon is working hard to go through over 700 boxes of books from before the pandemic. The new library will have fewer bookshelves than the library before the pandemic did. Some of the school’s books are being thrown out because they are outdated and quite old. Others will be donated or thrown out because they can be found online in one of the online databases KO is subscribed to, such as JSTOR, GaleGroup, Culturegrams, and others. Some reference books are being given to teachers. “So far, I am sorting the reference books,” Mrs. Solomon said. “Many of them are outdated or don’t have relevant information.”
The Community Commons will be one of the most impactful buildings on campus and an attractive new facility for prospective students. Mrs.Solomon believes that the new Community Commons will help showcase our library and increase the sense of community at KO. Mr. Dillow voiced his agreement. “It will support and provide resources for our students that they didn’t have before,” he said. The Community Commons will transform KO’s campus, and students and faculty alike are excited and ready for what it will bring.
