Over the past few years the Library Learning Commons has become more popular than before. This has resulted in students being turned away to avoid overcrowding.

The LLC has gone from a quiet place for studying and reading to a place where students can play games, read, use computers, print essays, or even just relax. Name changes over the years — Library, Library Media Center, and now Library Learning Commons — reflect the varying missions of facility.

The LLC can accommodate 120 people. Towards the end of last year, it averaged 80 students per period not counting the teachers that reserved labs for their classes.

This year the popularity of the LLC has only continued to grow. Around 410 students attend each day and there are still at least 25 plus students that are turned away.

“The goal is to allow people in,” said Michael McNiff, media specialist. It isn’t the media specialists’ intention to turn students away. There just aren’t enough adults to supervise all of the students as well as not enough room. McNiff is joined by two other media specialists, Traci Cook and Elaine Gencarelli.

When the LCC lost its media clerk (the person who checked people in) in budget cuts, that meant that the specialists had to cut the number of students that could come in and stay for the period. One specialist works the front desk while the other two supervise the students.  Also, teachers use the labs for their classes, which means that the number of students allowed in are reduced.

Many students go to the LLC to print their essays or to do computer work. There are 110 laptops and desktops for students to use. Then there are also some students that play computer games as well as watch videos on their own electronic devices.

“I think of it more as a place where I can hang out with my friends and just talk and not to mention, it’s just really relaxing there,” says junior Riley Duhamel. By allowing students to use their cellphones as well as other technology, it creates a more social atmosphere.

When both computer class labs are in use and the  teachers want to use them for their class, the media specialists will go to the classrooms with cromecarts. “We take the library to them” says Cook.

There are around 60 Macbooks, two project Macbooks, as well as two Chrome carts for classes to use. This is one of the ways that the LLC tries to expand. By doing this, more students can come in and do what they have to do.

This is only solving a bit of the problem. There are still many students that get turned away from the LCC. “Sometimes it can get a bit frustrating,” says junior Timothy Henry. “There will be times where I have to finish up an assignment due in a few periods but I won’t be able to get in.”

It’s first come, first served. It doesn’t matter if you have one, two, or three projects due. If there’s no room in the LLC then you cannot enter.

The popularity of the Library Learning Commons is growing tremendously. The population of Danbury High School keeps on growing each year. This of course does not help the media specialists because now they have to turn even more students away.

The Career Center near the cafeteria also helps accommodate more students as well. There aren’t as many computers but they still have the technology you need to do work. “Sometimes whenever I see a long line going into the LLC, I’ll go down to the career center to do work. I just don’t see the point in waiting in a line when there’s another place you can do work,” says senior Sydney Hollister.

The media specialists are doing the best they can. They would like to accommodate as many students as possible. It’s not so much about the space, but the number of supervisors that are available. With each year, there are more and more students that come to DHS, which means that there are more students that get turned away.

Even though students get turned away, this is not the goal. The real goal is to “try and accommodate as many people as possible” says McNiff.