It clicks!

Consider McCall School's snazzy new "cybrary": 22 sleek new computers, with 12 more on the way.

An impressive, and growing, collection of new books, including a considerable Mandarin-language section. And one shiny new interactive board that Rachel Keenan's kindergarten class really, really likes experimenting with every morning.

Not bad for a school that had no real library for years, or as recently as a few months ago.

"Everything was cut, cut, cut - it was basically a big room where they used to hold meetings," said Keri White, McCall parent. "We decided that was unacceptable for our kids."

So parents banded together and raised $8,000 the old-fashioned way: bake sales and fund-raisers.

When McCall representatives met with Philadelphia School District personnel, they realized that they needed to dream bigger.

"Libraries as we know them are the wave of the past," White said.

McCall, with a group of dedicated parents, was well suited to get in on the ground floor of the cyber-library movement. Representatives from the district said that if the school managed to come up with $40,000 to offset the cost of staff training, they would get a $200,000 interactive library.

A frantic eight months of fund-raising ensued. Corporations and politicians came through, and so did folks from the surrounding Society Hill neighborhood.

"A lot of people whose kids are in private school but recognize the value of a good public school in the community helped out," White said.

Construction took place last summer, and the cybrary opened to students last month.

Last week, though, the school held a formal grand opening, with dozens of guests ooh-ing and aah-ing over bells and whistles and poring over photos of the startling changes.

"I can't even believe this exists," said Sonja Bingham, a McCall parent who along with White spearheaded the efforts to bring the cybrary to the school and who has been hired as the "knowledge navigator."

Bingham pointed to the tools at her fingertips - a central online catalog that allows teachers and students to tap into all books in the district, plus a large library of videos and other material - and said that she has had only positive experiences so far.

A group of second graders agreed.

"Last year, it was just a mess," said Rebecca Kannon, 7.

"This is like what all the classrooms are going to be like in a few years," Himmat Sembhi, 8, said.

"Yep, instead of of chalkboards, you're going to have [interactive] whiteboards, and that's cool," Rebecca added.

Keenan, the kindergarten teacher, can't wait. She brings in her class daily for reading and writing practice on the whiteboard. Yesterday, her class eagerly waved their hands for a turn at using her special pen to circle words or color shapes.

Having this technology at her fingertips, she said, makes her realize how much paper she's wasted in her 20 years of teaching.

"It's a fabulous tool," Keenan said. "I want one in my class."

"They love it," said Veronica Parsons, an aide in Keenan's kindergarten class. "The first day they saw it, they said, 'Ooh, look at the new TV!' "

Second grader Lauryn Bowler, watching from the sidelines, is a cybrary veteran, having gone with her class a few times. Her review was succinct - and glowing.

"Amazing!" Lauryn said.