When Marco DiCesare started as principal at Caroline Chisholm Catholic College, the school’s library was mostly used as a detention space for unruly students.

The books were in detention too, kept in a room behind a locked door only teachers could open.

Caroline Chisholm Catholic College principal Marco DiCesare and information services co-ordinator Barbara Roach in the school's library. Credit:Joe Armao

Students rarely visited and library chairs were left stacked on top of tables during the day to make the cleaner’s job easier in the evening.

The non-government school in Braybrook had embraced information and communications technology and expanded its online resources, but it had turned its back on its library in the process.