How Swede it is

Marisa O’Neil

Wilson Elementary School’s library looks like the set of a trendy

reality show, only with more books.

Bright red and blue rugs with big white dots cover the floor. Red

and blue benches sit on the floor, and fuchsia cube-like stools dot

the room. Cushions arranged as an impromptu futon beg for someone to

sprawl on them with a good book. Even the librarian has a

zebra-striped chair.

“It looks like something out of HGTV,” Principal Candy Sperling

said, referring to the TV channel that features shows about room

redecoration.

Most of Wilson’s library revamp came courtesy of a $6,677

furniture donation from the new IKEA Costa Mesa. As part of a promise

by the Scandinavia-based furniture store to help area schools, the

company made donations totaling $154,850 to Costa Mesa’s 19 schools,

according to Newport-Mesa Unified School District reports.

Wilson got the benches, cushions, rugs, picture frames and a new

checkout desk in the deal. They also got tables, which Sperling said

ended up working better in classrooms than in the library.

A designer came in and made sketches of an IKEA-style library and

they got most of the furniture in May. Librarian Nancy Johnson slowly

got things set up, then finished things off over the summer.

The new furniture replaces old tables and mismatched plastic

chairs and transformed the library, Sperling said, into a place

students really enjoy visiting.

“The kids come in here quieter, ready to read,” she said. “We’re

finding that they’re better behaved, take care of things in the

library. They’re proud of it and happy to be here.”

At California Elementary, new file cabinets and computer desks

helped clean up the computer lab and a big, comfy chair makes the

ideal venue for story time, Principal Jane Holm said. But, as with

all IKEA furniture, some -- or a lot -- of assembly is required.

“We have nine awesome dads and one grandpa we call the ‘Furniture

Putting-Together Dads,’” Holm said. “They work like an assembly line.

One evening, they put about 40 things together.”

Foundations for TeWinkle Intermediate and Estancia and Costa Mesa

high schools also received substantial donations from the Home Ranch

Development on which the IKEA was built.

C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, developers of the project, donated a $2

million for an educational endowment as part of a deal with the city.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education and may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.