On a recent Thursday morning, Sand Lake Elementary School librarian Tom Grenier read from the book “Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf” with a group of kindergartners.
As the kids listened along, a local artist was hand-drawing a mural on an opposite wall, with detailed foliage and a smattering of animals gazing at a sunset. In one corner, decorative koi fish hung from the ceiling near an exhibit highlighting the school’s Japanese immersion program. In another, a large window illuminated a revamped quiet reading area.
These are all renovations spurred by a community member’s time spent volunteering at the school. Former state legislator Andrew Halcro – a Republican representative who once ran for governor as an independent – said he began coming to the library a couple times a week after he retired two years ago to help shelve books.
“After a couple of weeks, you know, my mind started kicking in,” Halcro said. “I started to think of ways you could improve the library, right? Get kids to books faster, eliminate some of the security concerns, make it more fun and whimsical.”
Halcro met with the local parent-teacher association, and they issued a survey to students, asking what they’d like to see from their library.
“The number one response was, kids loved the quiet reading area,” Halcro said. “So we invested a lot of money in seating, in new cushions and pillows for the reading area, because the kids really gravitated towards that.”
Halcro and his wife Vicki paid for the renovations, which also include a couple iPads to help kids find their books faster and updated bookends showing animals climbing in trees, with clouds labeling the various topics. On a nearby ladder, artist Ted Kim was using a Sharpie to freehand draw a mural.
“This piece I think I've only used… I've only cycled through five different markers,” Kim said.
Kim has been showcasing his art in Anchorage for more than 20 years. He said he caught the artistic bug as a kid going to his school’s library.
“Some of my fondest memories were going to the library and checking out the books,” Kim said. “And I feel like that's kind of where it all started with, you know, just this magic of creativity and just imagination.”
Kim said he was given a lot of freedom to draw the mural. There are leaves and flowers lining the walls. There’s also a large lion, Sand Lake’s mascot, surrounded by a couple Maltese dogs, like the ones Kim has at home. His daughter suggested a capybara should be added. There’s even a small nod to Grenier, the school’s librarian.
“The panda playing the guitar is a tribute to Tom the librarian here,” Kim said. “He's an awesome guitarist.”
Grenier said he appreciates the attention being paid to the library, both from the students that took the survey and the donations that made the renovations possible. He said a lot of the school curriculum is focused on very structured topics, like math and science, but the library helps to stretch kids' creativity.
“The library, I think, nourishes the aspects of the kids that thrive and need exploration and a lack of structure and discovery and self-selection,” Grenier said.
And Grenier said the renovations are working. He’s noticed an uptick in attention from students, even the older ones who typically outgrow the elementary catalog.
“I've been able to put brand new books about super current stuff out on the table tops,” Grenier said. “And check out among the older grades is definitely up. That makes your job fun.”
Halcro said the project is ongoing, and they’ll continue to survey students on what sorts of new books they want in their library.
