The Library at Safe Harbor Academy 📚💚🎶🌎✨
We are thrilled to feature a wonderful new space in one of our schools: the library at Safe Harbor Academy. 📚💚🎶🌎✨
It’s an inviting space with comfortable furniture, artwork, tables for collaborative learning, musical instruments as well as a record player with no shortage of vinyl options, and books. Many, many books displayed on proper bookshelves. The library at Safe Harbor Academy is a room that evokes a strong sense of school pride and invites anyone who enters to tap into their creative side to start dreaming big and boldly. 
For years, books at Safe Harbor were kept in a large, multi-purpose room. While students and staff members alike were grateful for the books available to them, it was a great desire to have a collaborative yet calm, inviting and imaginative place for students to read, relax, discover, work, and more. In 2026, this desire became reality. The Safe Harbor Academy volunteer library and media room was born.
In six weeks of school, students have already enjoyed this space to read, work in groups, play music, and participate in art activities. Rogan, a senior at Safe Harbor Academy, says “It’s a really comfortable space.” He elaborates on the wide variety of ways that students can utilize the room. “There are games, vinyl records, musical instruments, art supplies, books, and an exercise bike.”
Rogan explains how the desire for this room was expressed by students. He says, “It feels really good to students to feel like our voices are heard. It makes people feel more seen in school.” Rogan adds, “Listening to student feedback is good for bolstering how much people want to learn and grow in this building. It does a lot for people.”
Mr. Matthew Haughton, English teacher at Safe Harbor Academy, has taken a deep interest in the volunteer library and media space. He, along with Mrs. Laura Benton, Librarian and Media Specialist at Woodford County High School, Dr. Amber Sergent, Social Studies teacher at WCHS, and Tyson Sergent, student at WCHS, devoted time this summer to put the library together.
Mr. Haughton has a love of reading and learning, and these are certainly contributing factors to why he wanted to help create the library space; however, Mr. Haughton is also determined to help students maintain an appropriate amount of technology use. He says, “If we are wanting to help kids with proper use of technology, then traditional media becomes way more important; we need to supply them with books. They need to be reading more for themselves and not just what we give them to read in class.”
Mr. Haughton is committed to continuing to fill the library with as many books as possible. Both he and Mrs. Benton look for grant opportunities and apply for them frequently. The grants they look for are designed to fund adding more books and more elements to the library.
Another important aspect of the library space is the opportunity to both play and listen to music. Mr. Haughton supplied the library and media room with a record player and several vinyl records. It is also home to a variety of instruments that are available to students to play and enjoy. Mr. Haughton says, “A kid can come in here, look through these records, and calm down in that process.”
The room truly is an alternative space designed to help students grow and thrive. On any given day, a student can come to this room for a wide variety of reasons. The instruments, artwork, student projects, student artwork, and books are all displayed on shelves, and these objects and pieces tell many different stories. Mr. Haughton explains, “This room is just as much about storytelling as anything else. Stories belong on shelves.”
Rose, a senior at Safe Harbor, sees the beauty in the storytelling that happens in the library and through reading. She says, “Whenever I’m reading a different book, it takes me to a whole new world without having to leave my house or school. It takes me to a new universe, and it’s awesome.” Rose would spend as much time as possible in the library and media room. She adds, “I wish this room was at my house! I love this space.”
The library and media room is just in its first few weeks. It is exciting to ponder all the ways this dedicated space to create, read, listen, relax, and dream will impact students.
Thank you to the students who used their voices to ask for this space. Thank you to the adults who listened to them and set to work to bring their dream into reality. Thank you to Mr. Haughton, Mrs. Benton, Dr. Sergent, and Tyson Sergent for their efforts in helping with the volunteer library and media room.
Let’s keep reading, keep dreaming, and keep telling stories. 📖💛🌎