Would you Like a Glass of Lemonade?: How a Construction Project and an Alumna Came Together to Increase Circulation
November 3, 2026 by
November 3, 2026 by
The MILTON libraries have many blessings; wonderful natural light through big, beautiful windows and comfortable seating options are just two. Space, however, is at a premium, and this past summer, in the Middle School Library, the space changed drastically when a wall was removed to expand an existing small room into a larger classroom. It was replaced with a wall that folds away to make the space truly multi-functional and to accommodate our ever-growing number of students.
The library itself, however, housed a large number of non-fiction texts on that wall. And so as the saying goes, with a little creativity and help from the community, we faced that challenge and made some lemonade.
At the same time the changes to the library were in their planning stages, alumna Phoebe Rothenberg (‘25) was looking for a way to help MILTON through her Scouting America Eagle Project. She wanted to give back to MILTON and had long wanted to focus her efforts on the library, one of her favorite places as a student. Students have long wanted the fiction collection to be organized by genre, a common practice in school libraries now that allows students to browse in the way people browse bookstores. Phoebe developed a plan to categorize books based on genres already in use in the MILTON Elementary Library with some tweaks for Middle School. The plan involving colored labels for each book, labeling shelves, and more, came together just as the construction plan was shared.
It may come as no surprise to some that Phoebe is my daughter, and as MILTON’s Librarian, I thought this moment could really benefit the MS Library if we could merge the two projects.
Phoebe organizing books in the library.
Phoebe met with Director of Security and Facilities Duncan Miller to discuss material needs, timelines, volunteer coordination and shelf placement. During Teacher Work Week at the end of the ’25-’26 school year and then again during Teacher Welcome Week for the ’26-’27 school year (and some Sundays, too), Phoebe led a team of volunteers that consisted of friends, fellow scouts, and MILTON alumni, students, and faculty and brought her plan to fruition not only in the Middle School Library, but also in the Elementary Library.
The MS Library now boasts a wholly genre-fied fiction collection, a topically organized non-fiction collection, a prominently displayed space for students to enjoy new books and more. Students have responded enthusiastically to these changes, not just with words of amazement when seeing the new arrangements, but with increased circulation especially around books that haven’t been checked out in some time.
In Elementary School, non-fiction books have been placed near fiction titles that coordinate; History non-fiction and Historical Fiction are now side by side, while books about sports are near Sports Fiction books.
It was a daunting task, but I believe that it spurred us to push the library forward for the benefit of all. I invite the entire community to come visit the MILTON libraries – I would love to share the collections with you. Though sadly, I can’t serve you lemonade as we don’t eat or drink around the books!
Books in boxes during the reorganization process.
