Ever since Hollis-Brookline’s former English teacher, Christine Heaton, switched to her new position as a librarian, she has made it a priority to update the library to the twenty-first century. One of the biggest differences Heaton has made is the she switch from the old pencil and paper sign in sheet to an iPad sign in that are automatically set up to a touch screen Google Form. Heaton explains that “It’s all Google based and its on a Google form, that’s it. You sign in the way you signed in before but you’re just doing it online.”

“The update was long over due,” she explains, “now it is easy for administration, guidance, the health office, etc. to find out where everyone is.” It makes it easier on faculty, and library aide Maureen Ouelette said, “I’d say 99% of students like typing rather than writing.”

Heaton loves the new technological advances in the library and states that it makes everything more productive. “The reason why I did it, honestly, was because it dawned on me that in the event of an emergency there is no way of other people knowing or being able to find out immediately who’s in the library… So I thought, you know what? I need something because if I was ever stuck in this library with pick a number of kids…locked down in there and no one knew we were there I just thought that, that’s not cool.” Before the iPads, there was no clear way of knowing who was in the library. Now it is clear how many people are in the library and also it updates throughout the day as people come in and out of the library.

Since this new system is fairly different from the old pen and paper sign in sheets, students will have to become adjusted to this new method, because it doesn’t look like its changing back anytime soon.