Florence Drake Elementary School students will soon enjoy a new library with bright murals, more computers and more age-appropriate shelves and books when the 2009 Leadership Reno Sparks class is done with it.

Today, the LRS is holding a rummage sale at ELP Capital in Reno to raise money for the effort at the Sparks school. Items that have been donated for the sale include sporting goods, clothing, jewelry, small appliances and furniture.

Nicole Shearer, a member of this year’s LRS, a program held by the Reno Sparks Chamber of Commerce, said the renovation is the chosen project of the class, a requirement to complete the course. The project must benefit the community in some way.

“This came about right around the time there were plenty of articles in the newspapers about county libraries getting their funding cut and we thought what a great idea it would be to find a library and renovate it,” Shearer said.

LRS participants narrowed their focus to a school library that wasn’t already being renovated as part of the Washoe County School District’s current summer projects. The class further limited its choice to schools that are year-round so they can have access to the library before finally choosing the Sparks school.

Once LRS members began collaborating with Drake librarian Shannon Bray, a wish list was put together for some of the library’s most pressing needs.

“I was just so excited when they came to look at my library as a potential candidate,” Bray said. “I just didn’t think they’d pick us because it’s not a horrible library. It’s not like it’s falling apart or dilapidated. It’s just too good to be true.”

One of the projects to be done is the replacement of Bray’s workstation, which will improve her efficiency at getting the books to the shelves after they’ve been checked out and returned.

“My work station was dysfunctional because the lady before me was very short and I’m not real tall but not real short,” Bray said. “The workstation is 18 inches long, so when you get 100 books in the morning, it’s a real challenge.”

Bray is a first-year librarian who was in home sales immediately before taking this job to be with family and to share the joy of reading with kids. A new reading area that is also planned for the library renovation will allow more seating room for kids during the times when she likes to read to the kids, she said.

The shelves themselves also have been dysfunctional, Bray said.

“They are too short,” she said. “Most of the books have to go in sideways and the kids can’t read the titles.”

The LRS also wants to improve the decor and technology of the facility.

“The money we get (from our fundraisers) will go to hire muralists to paint murals and install a six-computer workstation,” Shearer said. “They currently have two computers and one member of the class, Robin (Krueger) of New2U Computers, is going to help provide and maintain those computers for a year.”

Bray said with only two computers currently available, students have to wait in long lines to get on the computers to locate the books they need.

The renovations speak to the importance of the library as a hub for free family and student activity, Bray said.

“It’s important especially in this economy where people can’t afford extra things to go to the library and pick up books and can learn that reading is fun,” Bray said. “It’s not just for chores or homework. There’s so much offered in reading, whether fiction or nonfiction that it’s a privilege to get books and loan them out. I mean, how many books are free these days?”

Other fundraising efforts include a book sale at Sundance Bookstore in Reno, during which the owner is offering preselected books at a 45 percent discount that customers can buy and donate to Drake. On the grand opening day of the renovated library, Shearer said, every child will receive a free, gently used, age-appropriate book.

Shearer said the assignment has encouraged members to think about giving back to the community.

“The goal is to make the project sustainable and a very large part of the leadership class is to show you what’s offered in the community,” she said. “It’s something we’re passionate about and one way or another we get to remodel a school library and that’s going to impact hundreds of kids as time goes on.”

The rummage sale is today from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. at ELP Capital, 401 Court St. in Reno.

The books to be collected for the grand opening will be accepted through Aug. 1.