Spring Branch ISD schools to get special library tables

New library tables designed to make access to digital learning easier will be installed in most campuses within Spring Branch ISD.

According to a press release, the tables will make it easier to access digital learning devices like netbooks, iPads and MacBooks by making it possible to move mobile devices out of the locked charging and security carts.

The previous system posed a challenge for librarians.

"Equipment would be charged and secured overnight and between classes, then checked out to students when they visited libraries," Monty Miller of SBISD's technology services department said in the release. "This required librarians to frequently unlock, unplug and check out the device to users, as well as keep an eye on the checked-out devices, check them back in, reconnect to power sources and relock the cabinets. This was repeated many times daily, and quite a lot of management was involved in that process."

Miller worked with the superintendent of schools and chief information officer on several designs before the new tables were installed.

"Simply displaying devices on counters and tables, where those exist at campuses, wasn't an option due to our security concerns and the inability to monitor them," he said in the release. "Also, crawling under a standard counter or table to lock/unlock and plug in our unplug devices proved unattractive to librarians. They just don't have the time to manage a daily physical task so involved."

With these issues in mind, the new 8-foot tables, similar to ones found in Apple stores, can display up to eight MacBooks, eight netbooks, eight Kindles, eight iPads or any combination of the devices.

The tables can be powered from ceilings, floor, walls or columns, and each is fitted with cabled security, locking table bases for nesting devices and featherweight security cables for holding handheld devices.

Presently, the district expects to install the new tables in Spring Oaks Middle and Edgewood Elementary school.