Planning the library of the future….crystal ball not required

When I was a children’s librarian, sometimes around Halloween I dressed as a fortune teller (calling myself Esmerelda) and used a crystal ball to help me “reveal” fortunes to children.

What a fun event for me.  I think the kids enjoyed it too because the surprise on their faces indicated pure delight as the blank fortune-cookie-sized paper magically transformed with words of good fortune…right before their very eyes.  (I can’t tell you how I did it.  You never know when I’ll be asked to resurrect Esmerelda.)

Over the years, I’ve wished that one could actually use a crystal ball to help plan the future.  It would be much easier to just know exactly what new technologies we can expect over the next 20 years.  We’ve had a great deal of change in our world over the last two decades and the pace of innovation doesn’t seem to be slowing down.  Our library facility needs to expertly respond to changes both tomorrow…and for a good long while.  It’s important to take responsibility for proper planning.

I’ve come to realize that planning never really stops.  If you think about it, our planning for this expansion and renovation began as a part of our building project in 1983.  At that time, the architect designed unfinished spaces and called for utilization of them within 20 years.   Perhaps the architects had a crystal ball when they predicted that because they were remarkably accurate in estimating when we would run out of space.

But many things have changed since then.  Materials certainly are getting smaller.  Miniaturization, digitization, and electronic access are not only the trend, they are the future.

So why do we need to expand?

A well written blog post by Jamie LaRue entitled Imagine the post Kindle public library discusses the reasons very succinctly and accurately.  LaRue’s view is that libraries will always need space for children’s collections, technology, meeting rooms,  servers, displays, and librarians…key people in making sense of it all.

I’d also emphasize that libraries have always been about access to content.  The library is able to provide for the many what many would not be able to provide for themselves.   The format is almost beside the point.  It’s about equitable access to content.  Libraries don’t just bridge the digital divide.  They fill it.

Sometimes access involves physical space, sometimes it doesn’t.  But computers take space just as books do.   Tables take space.  Kindles take space.  And so do people.

Our library building and renovation project is built upon a foundation of self-examination.   We have studied carefully our service needs and our building.  We have done that in the context of our community.   I’m pretty sure I know how to use spreadsheet software better than my crystal ball at this point.

We have looked forward as well, factoring in the changes we anticipate and building in flexibility to accommodate the (as yet) unknown.  Our plan allows for growth in certain collection areas but not all of them.  We are not planning for growth,  for example, in the non-fiction or reference book collections.  We have looked at a whole range of needs including meeting room and seating space, better work-flow, easier way finding, greatly improved accessibility, incorporation of technology for both public and staff, and general (and very critical) infrastructure upgrades.   We plan to capture those unfinished spaces and make them functional.

The actual design is being refined and finalized throughout the summer.    I couldn’t be more pleased with the way the plan is progressing.    Based on a solid understanding of our environment, fundamental commitment to the delivery of excellent library services, and the knowledge that operational flexibility is key…we are planning for our future.   As we’ve been working, we’ve taken stock of what we have and all realize how lucky we are.  We’ve got an unbelievable foundation with historic architectural details that are worthy of  preserving and rediscovering.   It is going to be both a beautiful and functional building!

No one really knows where our world will be in even five years.  But I think it’s safe to say that this library will be right here, providing content to our community and fostering personal growth for our citizens in the best way we know how.

We don’t need a crystal ball to see that.

Eloquent words…about words

The other day I was shopping at Tuttle’s Hallmark and a book caught my eye. 

The eye-catching red book, a part of the (PRODUCT) RED campaign, was entitled: Be Inspi(red): Words of Hope and Courage.  (I think maybe Lisa saw me coming when she bought this for the store.)  Anyway, I had no intention of buying a book when I went into the store.  I went in for a box of thank you cards!

If you aren’t familiar with (RED) here is more info: 

(RED) was created by Bono and Bobby Shriver, Chairman of DATA to raise awareness and money for The Global Fund by teaming up with the world’s most iconic brands to produce (PRODUCT)RED branded products. A percentage of each (PRODUCT)RED product sold is given to The Global Fund. The money helps women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa.

The book is absolutely beautiful, striking in its simplicity.  Well crafted and stunningly designed. There was no way I couldn’t buy it.

When I got home I immediately opened the book and began to read.   The following words greeted me as a way of introduction:

If you ever doubt the power of language, listen more closely. Witness the magic the first time someone whispers “I love you.”

Watch a woman put on headphones, close her eyes, and have her life changed by a lyric.

See a bad moment flipped upside down by a well-timed joke.

Words propel us, empower us make us human…and more than human.

We constantly struggle to say what we mean and mean what we say.

To “wrestle with words and meanings.” That’s what T.S. Eliot calls it.

But as we whisper and shout, stutter and spin, we create order out of the chaos around us. We are built of words, and we live by them, too.

Wow.  What a powerful piece of writing.  I guess it’s safe to say that I agree because I have a fundamental belief in the power of words.   Used for good, words can heal, enlighten, lift, console, educate.  Words truly do inspire. 

Every day this library staff sees someone whose life is in need of “words”.   Every day, our staff makes great effort to help connect that person with just the right words.   It’s an amazing process, sac(red) in its own way.  Last year our library tallied over 185,000 visits from citizens.  Hey, that’s a lot of word searching!

I’d like to share a couple of messages from the book that resonated with me (just a few, so I don’t have to worry about copyright):

Empowe(red)  Dig deep.  Look within.  It’s all there inside you.  Except sometimes…it’s not.  Everybody has days when all the digging deep only turns up mud.  And that’s when you hand over the shovel.  You reach out.  You let somebody give you what you can’t mine for yourself.  We are strongest together, holding hands.          

Remembe(red)  That’s the question.  What do you want to be remembered for?  It’s not really about what you made of your life.  It’s about how you made your life.  How you made the world.  Maybe just a little bit better?  Then you’re doing fine.

Perseve(red) It takes a glacier about a year to move as far as you can walk in a few minutes.  Eventually, it carves out canyons and slaps up mountains.  It permanently changes the world.  Just by keeping at it.  So can you.

I am very mindful of the value of our library’s place in our community.  And that’s why it’s so important to protect and envision the future of our very own treasure trove…of words.

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 interesting 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.