Resource center is more than a library
The dismissal bell at La Cañada High School might mark the end of the day for most students, but for a large contingent of band members, athletes, club participants and their family members, the day is just getting into full swing.
For those whose schedules keep them on campus into the evening hours — or for members of the public looking for a safe, fully wired spot to catch up on work or projects — the high school’s Information Resource Center (IRC) has become a bit of a hot spot.
For the past 14 years, La Cañada High School students and members of the community have taken advantage of a joint-use agreement between the city and La Cañada Unified School District that’s allowed the IRC to remain open an additional five hours each Monday through Thursday.
Now, when school is out for the day, the library is just gearing up and can take visitors until 8 p.m. each night, according to librarian Lindsay Bozzani.
“It’s evolved in so many ways,” Bozzani said, recalling past school board meetings, computer classes and language labs that at one time were held in the space. “The shell is the same, but what’s happened in the way this building has been used is way beyond whatever I’d hoped it would be.”
Figures provided by Bozzani show a total of 17,228 people used the IRC during after-school hours in the 2015-16 school year, up from 10,301 the year before.
Most who pack into the IRC after the last bell has rung are La Cañada High students like seniors Sarah Bhaskaran and Ashley Medina, who come to take advantage of the computers and quiet time to catch up on homework and chat before and after athletic or music practice.
On Tuesday, the pair were among a small crowd of post-Labor Day weekend visitors.
“I come pretty much every day,” Bhaskaran said. “I have cross country or track, and my sister has tennis so my mom comes and gets me later.”
Sometimes, she added, her mom will come to use a computer or check out books. Without the IRC’s nighttime hours, Bhaskaran said she’d probably do her homework outside on campus or find a way to get to the La Cañada Flintridge Library, a 1.2-mile uphill trek that takes about 23 minutes on foot.
Medina, who was reading a copy of “The Kite Runner” for class, said the spot is ideal for getting a head start on homework assignments and projects.
“I started coming here a year ago because I realized I get a lot more work done here than if I was at home,” Medina said, adding that she usually stays until about 6:30 or 7 p.m.
While most of those users are undoubtedly LCHS students, attendance figures include students from other schools who may be on campus for sports and other events, off-campus tutors meeting clients, students from nearby community colleges as well as parents and members of the general public.
With meeting spaces available, coaches can now book time with team parents and outside instructors can hold classes outside the normal school schedule.
“It’s sort of like a liberal arts college library — that’s what it was modeled after,” said Bozzani, explaining how members of the public can open an account that lets them access the Internet (through the school’s content filter) as well as Google’s Cloud Platform and its suite of applications and websites.
A recent visit found retiree Britta Foshee, who teaches weekly vocational classes in the evenings, setting up a projector in one of the IRC’s upstairs computer labs. She said she prefers the IRC to other teaching spaces in Glendale, Burbank and Pasadena.
“I love being in the library. I get a lot of support here,” Foshee said. “I’ve been in several classrooms, but this is so much better. It’s local, there are people here and I don’t have to go around by myself in the dark.”
Carl Alameda, the city’s director of administrative services, said what began as a pilot program in 2002 with the city offering basic computer classes on Saturdays has blossomed into a real resource for the community at large. The city currently pays an annual $70,000 toward after-hours staffing, including librarians, custodians and security personnel.
“It provides our residents, and also high school students, a state-of-the-art infrastructure they can use to meet and collaborate,” Alameda said. “You can’t often find that in a traditional library.”
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
