How a Tempe school librarian transformed his library into a thriving ‘third space’ for students

Would you spend more time in the library if you could listen to music and play esports? For Tempe high school students, the answer is an emphatic yes.

Robert Owen-Jones is a librarian at Marcos de Niza High School near Guadalupe and Rural roads, and he’s focused on keeping students engaged and excited to come to the library at school.

The library is now home to an esports station, vinyl record listening rooms, Dungeons & Dragons club and more.

Owen-Jones tells KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Evening News that the idea came from books he read when he first became the school librarian.

“We created a 3D printing lab. We started investing more in manga, which kids are really into anime and manga right now. And then we also found some things that we thought were kind of old school that I loved. We started introducing vinyl records and vinyl record players and kids began listening to records and we have this record room,” he said. “It just led to more foot traffic.”

Creating a ‘third space’ in the school library

Owen-Jones explained by creating a “third space,” which is an environment where people gather outside of home and work, more students became interested in the books.

“The year before I became a librarian about five years ago, we had about 600 books checked out … we increased that circulation to nearly 1,500 in the third year after that,” Owens-Jones said.

The librarian said students began eating lunch in the library, even holding family nights where parents and community members can come and take advantage of all the library has to offer.

The library even extended its hours so kids can participate in after school clubs and events.

“We play music all the time in here and we just try to find a way to incorporate enough student activities into the space where the kids are just coming in, meeting us and forming a community,” Owen-Jones said.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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