Books still matter

Every summer, without fail, our library is inundated with kids who are participating in our summer reading program. Our program started yesterday and it’s been wildly busy at the library.  It’s a fun time to visit us, you’ll see neat decorations and many excited children.  Youth Services Librarian, Shelly Menzer does an incredible job putting the program together and is ably assisted by her amazing staff members as well as a crew of student volunteers who are second-to-none.

When I was a child, I was thrilled to receive a button that I could pin on my shirt to proclaim my status as a reader.  Kids don’t get as excited about those pins anymore, so the prizes tend toward more “hip” things.  But if you want to know the truth of it, it is still the books that get the kids excited. 

I’m always struck with joy when I see a little child beam about the books he or she has selected.  Hearing teens talk about Harry Potter reminds me of my love affair with the works of Susan Cooper and Zilpha Keatley Snyder.  It probably doesn’t come as a surprise, but I read a lot as a child and teen.  I wasn’t particularly discerning then, I figured if it was in print, it had to be important.  One day my Aunt Loretta came for a visit and found me with a hair dryer in my right hand and a General Motors annual report in my left.   I think her words were something like, “Oh my, Connie, you’ll read anything.”  I think I was about 12 years old at the time. 

I never actually wondered if there was something wrong with me for loving words so much…although, now that I think of it, others certainly may have. (Aunt Loretta, bless her heart, never indicated that she was worried.  My parents encouraged my reading too.)   “Miss Kate”, the children’s librarian at Dwight Foster Public Library at the time, had lit that fire inside me and reassured me along the way by telling me on more than one occasion that reading was indeed a valuable life skill. 

It really is.  You can learn and grow in ways that are unimaginable.  You can be transported anywhere in the world.  You can use your time more productively.  You can simply escape, if that’s what you need to do. 

An intern from the Daily Jefferson County Union newspaper told me today that during our recent tornado warning she finished up the book she was reading.  What a great use of time, tucked away safely in the basement, reading a book!

If you hear someone predict the death of the book, be suspicious.  It’s true that information is made more accessible if it is online (assuming access to the Internet.)  I couldn’t agree more that SOME things are better produced electronically.  But a book is still a cheap, portable way to share a story.  Add great illustrations and a comfy lap and a you have the recipe for a life-long memory. 

When I think of it, a hair dryer in the right hand and a book in the left still works for me. (Only one electrical cord to worry about!)  These days, however, I’m not likely to be found reading the General Motors annual report while drying my hair.  With access to millions of titles via our library’s SHARE catalog, it’s easy to find something a bit more in entertaining and enlightening. 

At the end of the day, as a public library we are all about providing access…whatever the format.  But I do expect books will long have a prominent place on our shelves.  As we get set to plan our expanded library, you can know that we do have a deep commitment to books.   At the library we see, every day, the way people in Fort Atkinson feel about books.  STILL.            

 

 

 

 

Revolution in the stacks

There’s no question our world is changing.  In terms of what these societal and technological changes mean for libraries it is interesting to note what other libraries are doing to respond to the trends.  An intertesting article entitled: Revolution in the stacks can be found in the June 2008 Governing Magazine. 

From offering music recording studios to providing a coffee shop experience there are many examples of innovative library services.  The article even discusses the merits of throwing out the Dewey Decimal system.

Now I have to admit, I’m not sure I agree with dumping Dewey! 

I’m all for change, but the benefits of a system superior to the Dewey Decimal system would have to be demonstrated before I’d make that change.  (Okay, so maybe I’ve got one or two sacred cows.)

As we get set to plan our community library building we realize it is driven by the services we wish to provide today, tomorrow, and well into the future.  Thinking about the possibilities is just as important as thinking about the history.

 

 

 

What’s been done

Library Expansion Project Timeline

  

Spring 2001 – Library community survey completed  (1,000 area residents surveyed)

 

December 2001/January 2002 – Library Board members and staff visit new or expanded library buildings (Janesville, Sun Prairie, Schaumberg, Gurnee)

 

Winter/Spring 2002 – Board and staff complete work sessions for Space Needs Assessment

 

April 1, 2002 – Board adopts final Space Needs Assessment which documents serious building, workflow and service shortcomings (Completed by planner George Lawson)

 

June 2002 – Architect selection process for Space Feasibility Study/Alternatives Assessment

 

August 2002 – Uilhlein Wilson Architects selected to do space feasibility study/alternatives assessment

 

October 2002 – Team comprised of library board members, library staff, and architectural firm’s staff visit new or expanded library buildings (Sussex, Whitefish Bay, Milwaukee, Waterford)

 

November 2002 – Community focus groups held for Space Feasibility Study

 

November 2002 – 3 day space planning workshop for feasibility study (conducted by Uihlein Wilson architectural staff with direction by George Lawson)

 

April 2003 – Letter to Friedens Church to request conversation about purchasing parsonage property

 

February 2004 – Letter to Friedens to request conversation about purchasing parsonage property

 

March – October 2004 – Conversations with Friedens Church

 

April 2004 – City secures Right of First Refusal on South Third Street property

 

October 2004 – Friedens Church informs Library that it is not interested in selling the parsonage property

 

May 2005 - Community Listening Sessions

 

Spring/Summer 2005 – Board and staff work sessions for building program

 

August 2005 – Library receives commitment of a gift of $30,000 to help purchase South Third Street property

 

September 2005 – Board adopts Library Building Program; City exercises option for right of first refusal on South Third Street property and makes an offer to purchase property;  Offer to purchase is accepted by property owner and a closing date is set for January 2006

 

July 2006 - Library Board members and staff tour public libraries in New Berlin and Pewaukee

 

October 2006 – Letter to Friedens, Fort Atkinson Community Foundation gives approval to use library funds invested with the Foundation for property purchase

 

December 2005 – City examines South Third Street Property

 

January 2006 – City closes on South Third Street Property (private funds were used)

 

February 2006 – Library demolishes house on South Third Street Property (private funds were used)

 

2007 – Library board examines alternate possible location

 

January 2008 – Library Board decides to remain at current location based on detailed analysis of alternative options

 

April 2008 – Library interviews architects for library expansion project

 

May 2008 – Library makes decision to hire Uihlein Wilson Architects

 

Future Dates:

 

• Summer 2008 – Program Verification Workshops to determine design/program
• Fall 2008 – Begin fundraising.
• Fall 2009 - Complete fundraising. Complete technical specifications.
• Spring 2010 -  Begin construction process in January 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Classics

Classics

Originally uploaded by davidking

 

Here is the parking garage at the Kansas City Public Library. In this case the designers were thinking outside of the box…but definitely inside the book! I don’t think the library board members and I will be taking a field trip here because you can actually get the idea pretty well from the photo; but it would sure be fun to have a conversation about which books would be selected, wouldn’t it? (If you click on the photo, it enlarges and you can see the titles better!)

Book Sculpture

Book Sculpture

Originally uploaded by gwENvision

Kansas City Public Library really has some really nifty artistic representations of books. I’m not thinking I’ll move there (it’s way too much fun here), but wouldn’t it be a treat to see this? I wonder if they let you touch it?!

Library board selects architect

At the library board meeting on Monday, May 5, 2008, the Dwight Foster Public Library Board of Trustees selected Uihlein Wilson Architects as the architect for the library expansion project.  Three architectural firms were interviewed on April 15, 2008.  The three firms were Engberg Anderson, Inc., Burnidge Cassell Associates, and Uihlein Wilson Architects.  Each firm made an outstanding presentation but Uihlein Wilson was selected based on a variety of factors, including their very detailed responses to questions from the library board.

The library board will take the next step in the process when it approaches the city council at an upcoming meeting for approval to move forward.

Stay tuned for more information…

From the beginning…

Here is a view of the Dwight Foster Public Library (Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin) in 1916.  This photo is taken from East Milwaukee Avenue (approximately where the public parking lot is now).  Notice the front pillars which were moved to Merchants Avenue when the library expanded in 1983.  Preservation of our history has been important during each of our expansions.

 

Change change and more change

Change is inevitable.  As Patty Loveless sings, “Life’s about changing, nothing ever stays the same.”  Once you become okay with that notion, it’s easier to accept that you must adapt in whatever ways are important to you.

I recently watched a video on the Internet that was thought provoking in terms of the pace of change in the future.  I think it illustrates that we will be well served to be aware of change because it’s happening…whether we want it to or not.  The only thing we really don’t know is how fast the changes will become a part of our lives.

The video can be seen here: Shift Happens.

As we prepare to plan a library for our future, we are well aware that many of our past groundrules have changed.  We will be focused on making this library flexible and adaptable for the future, as well as mindful of the history and beauty that we want to preserve and carry forward into our community’s future.

 

 

 

Why expand the library?

We are moving into a very exciting time in the Dwight Foster Public Library’s history. As many of you know, we have been considering an expansion project seriously for approximately 8 years. We’ve done a great deal of work already…including studying the feasibility of expanding this building as well as studying another possible location. The library board of trustees recently made the official decision to stay in the current library building and expand on this site. We will be moving forward with hiring an architect in the next few months. The architect will assist us in designing our expanded facility. So stay tuned for the plans and designs.

Sometimes people ask me why the library needs to expand. That’s a good question so I have done my best to outline some of the reasons an expansion is not only important but vital to our community’s library.

• The library expanded last in 1983. That building project was sized to take the library twenty years into the future. Those twenty years have passed and the library became full right on schedule.

• In 1983 the library did not own any computers, videos, DVDs, or compact discs. All of these are now essential library resources and, over the years, have been squeezed into our building which was never designed to house these items, which in turn takes away space for traditional library resources.

• The library’s materials collection is at capacity for the building size. The shelves are full. In other words, every time we add an item, one has to be discarded.   

• For a community of our size, the state’s guidelines show that our collection (based on our community service area population) should be approximately 91,777 to be considered excellent. Our collection is at its maximum size at approximately 84,000 and will never get much bigger than this, even though our service population continues to grow.

• The floor loading limit has been reached in the 1983 expansion portion of the building. Engineers have advised us not to put any more load on the floor.

• Seating is limited in quantity and variety. We have about half as many seats as we should according to the state guidelines for our community service population.

• Public computing resources are limited by space and infrastructure.

• Power and data distribution infrastructure is badly in need of updating.

• Some aisles and areas do not meet the accessibility requirement in the American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA).

• Library meeting spaces and their capacities are inadequate to meet the demand by civic organizations, community groups, and the library itself.

• Crowded work spaces limit the staff’s ability to work efficiently despite their best efforts. There is not an ADA-accessible pathway anywhere within the general staff workroom.

• The number of restroom fixtures is entirely inadequate for a building with the occupancy the library regularly experiences.

• There are no publicly accessible quiet study areas in the library.

• Collections have been split when they shouldn’t be or moved to completely different locations making them very difficult to find for a majority of patrons.

• There is only a very small space allocated for young adults in our library, yet a substantial young adult collection exits and the demand for young adult space has been demonstrated.

• There is no space in the library for public information displays.

• There is very little space in the library for displays related to library programs.

• Materials are shelved out of reach of many patrons on very high shelves.

• The grade of the building on the lot makes physical access to the library very difficult for people with disabilities and senior citizens.

 Stay tuned as we open this exciting new chapter…

25 years of change

Some have asked, “Wasn’t it just recently that the library expanded?”

As a matter of fact it was 25 years ago. I actually remember it clearly. I’m sure others remember it well too. Whether it was watching the front entrance move from one end of the building to the other or seeing the false ceilings come down, it left quite an impression on many of us who were here 25 years ago. (Of course, having to work amid the mess of construction does tend to implant the image in your brain!)

In some ways 1983 does seem like yesterday. (Unless you weren’t born yet, in which case you’ll just have to take a leap of faith on this one.)

But in the world of libraries, the changes that have transpired in the last 25 years have been monumental.

• In 1983 we didn’t own a video. Videos had just been invented and the war between Beta max and VHS was still on the horizon.   
• In 1983 we owned just a few books on tape but the earliest versions were the ultimate abridgment of a book, consisting of only one tape, no matter the length of the book. The production was also poor quality by today’s standards. Now we own more than 3,400 audio books in both the tape and the CD format. It is one of our most heavily used collections.
• In 1983 we didn’t own a single computer. Microsoft Windows was invented two years later, in 1985. Now we own 36 computers, each one taking up its very own space and putting a load on the floor that was never designed for the weight it now carries.
• In 1983 we owned 50,876 items. Today we own 81,000 items. The library has had a “no growth” practice for adding items since about the year 2000. That’s library lingo for having no more room to add new materials unless something else is moved off the shelf.
• In 1983 our circulation was 103,911. Last year our circulation was almost 186,000. This translates to an increase of 79% in items being checked out by the community. Remember, the items leaving the building are eventually returned. So actually, to analyze true collection usage, that number needs to be doubled.
• In 1983 the library reported 35,047 visits by people. Last year we had 181,112 visits. The number of library visits is now more reflective of usage than any other single number. The way people use libraries has changed greatly since the advent of the Internet. These days many people come in to use library resources without ever checking out anything. A 417% increase in the number of people who enter our building is a clear indication of how our community values and utilizes our library.

It would be safe to say the world has changed since 1983. When the architects were planning the building, they sized it to last twenty years. Those twenty years have come and gone and never could they have envisioned the kinds of changes we’ve seen in those years.

We have done our best to adapt to the changes in those years but have come to the place where we realize that we have not only reached our building capacity, but we have also stretched it beyond its original intentions.

While the pace of change has been rapid over these last 25 years (and has felt relentless at times), it has prepared us well for the changes yet to come. More about that in future entries.

(Note this article is adapted and updated from a column that originally appeared in the Daily Jefferson County Union newspaper)