Northwest is one of the largest high schools in the county. It may be hard to believe at first, but once you throw 2,000 students into it, start to walk around, and try to remember what floor you are on, it starts to feel like the size of a shopping mall instead of a high school. So it is understandable that many people have not found the Media Center yet (yes, Northwest has a Media Center ). As for the rumors you may have heard about the swimming pool on the fourth floor, sorry to break it to you; you will not find a fourth floor, or a swimming pool. However, you could probably find enough books to fill a swimming pool in the Northwest Media Center .
    “In my opinion, Northwest has one of the best libraries in Montgomery county,” commented librarian Ms. Heidary. She may very well be right.
In fact, the Northwest Media Center has over 22,000 items of print and non-print resources. All of the resources are selected to support the school curriculum here at Northwest, and because of this, it is usually pretty easy to find more than one book on a single topic. Students become thankful for that when it comes time to write that English research paper.
    “I like all the librarians, they’re real nice and helpful,” added senior, and frequent library-visitor Amesha Carney. The Media Center staff is always friendly and filled with alacrity to lend a helping hand whenever a student needs it. Ultimately, that is what they live for; to serve students and make gathering research or whatever a student may need, as easy and painless as possible.
    The Media Center is the perfect place to find that next need-to-read on your list, or any old favorites too. Just taking a brief skim down the isles of books could leave you with a new adventure to unfold.
    Or if you don’t feel like doing the searching yourself and want to know whats hot in teenage novels today, it may be of best interest to check out the Black-Eyed Susan Book Club. Becoming a member is as simple as reading three books off of their book list (filled with a variety of popular books that are sure to please!) by April 21st. Why not? What do you have to loose? If you are interested, more information can be found, like always, at the Media Center .
    But the Media Center is used for more than just getting research or finding a good book. I personally, have been a visitor to the library since my freshman year and I actually made some great friends just by stopping by to do my homework there a couple times a week. You really never know what you can find at the library.
Maybe you are into sports and don’t really have a ton of time on your hands because of practice, but you do have some hang time between the end of school and practice. “I really like the library because it’s a great place to come after school to get a little work done before practice,” commented volleyball team member Emily Forst. 
    The library is a place that has been marred with the stereotype as that “nerd hot spot” or whatever you would like to call it. However, when it comes down to it, the library was not built to be a nerd hang out, or a cool people hang out, or just to have pretty books and shiny computers to look at. It’s a good feeling to realize that it is a place that was built with one purpose in mind: to help students succeed in school. Any student could use that. So, whatever your interest or need may be, there is something for everybody at the library. Check it out!