Next Steps

I've come to the conclusion that posting on the blog is like exercising for me....best done in the morning or it's not done at all. Sorry that it's been so long since I last updated you on revitalization progress. There is still lots going on and we have had to scramble a bit to get everything updated after the big news of last Monday....not that we mind! Rudi, Terry Metcalf (as Board representative), Mike Hoogstra and I met yesterday to finalize the RFP that will be sent to the short-listed architects on Wednesday. Peter, Ruth, Rudi and I will be having a second meeting this week to formulate a communications plan to keep the public informed of our progress and to encourage further donations.

It is no secret that our library photographs (both of St. Thomas Public Library and others) are here, there and everywhere on the T:\ drive so Katelyn will be working to gather them all together and to organize them so that they will be useful to us. We'll have "before" and "after" shots on record.

Well, that's all for today. Don't forget to keep stuffing those suggestion boxes with ideas!

Camera Happy

I'm reading a great book called "Countdown to a New Library" by Jeannette Woodward. In it, she encourages libraries who are embarking upon a renovation project to "make a scrapbook" of photographs. This includes the details of buildings other than libraries. As Woodward says, "it is sometimes even more helpful to look at other buildings because you won't be distracted by library functions, and you will be more likely to focus on architectural details and building materials". Katelyn and I would like to put together a scrapbook and really would love your help. As you are traveling around this summer, whether it be on vacation or running errands, please feel free to take photographs of flooring materials, stairways, doors, windows, signage, counters and all the other details that go into a modern building. We will try also to corral all of the photographs we can find of our visits to other libraries as well. If you happen to have some of these on your camera, we'd love to have you send them to us. We'll set up a folder just for this purpose.

A big thank you to Sydnie who sent me this link:

http://n.pr/9wWtfG

As she says, it's humorous and hopeful at the same time!

Relationships

Welcome to a new week. I wrote to you last week about our progress with the abbreviated functional area reports. Katelyn is now working on how the areas relate to one another, floor by floor. She is creating bubble diagrams indicating strong relationships (such as the elevator and Technical Services), tenuous relationships, minor adjacencies. She's noting areas that should have unobstructed sight lines to one another (like the Youth Library reference desk and the Teen Zone), ones that should be self contained (like the CEO's office), others that should be somewhat separate from public space but not self contained and areas that are adjoining (such as the study section within the Teen Zone). It's a rather confusing process but an important one to establish especially for the architect.

On a completely separate topic, some of you, especially at the Circulation Desk, noted that you were unable to directly access the blog link from the emails that I send. I'm going to try sending you a tiny url instead to see if that works. Please let me know one way or the other.

Hiring our Architect.....Next Steps

I know that you are likely wondering how we are progressing with the hiring of our architect so I will explain. Earlier in the year we (Mike Hoogstra, Paul Giza, Rudi and I) met to shortlist 5 architects. Rudi, Katelyn and I have been working feverishly this week preparing a "Library Building Plan" that will be included with the "Request for Proposal" that will be given to each of the shortlisted 5 after it is approved by the Library Board at a meeting next Thursday afternoon. Once they receive this RFP, the architects will be expected to come up with a draft design and a price for the work. We will then meet again and review the designs and the prices and choose one of the architects. A special Board meeting will be held in August to approve our decision.

I just want to reiterate that you are welcome to ask me questions anytime. Email me, phone me, catch me as I'm walking by....I want you to feel as informed about what is happening re revitalization as possible. Until next week....

Staff Focus Groups and Functional Area Reports

Katelyn and I want to thank all staff who have participated in focus groups so far. We have gathered a great deal of information from you and appreciate hearing about your hopes, fears and dreams for the revitalization project. Adult services staff met on Monday afternoon. Administration staff gathered this morning. Circulation staff will have their session tomorrow afternoon and Children's and Teens' services next Friday afternoon.

Many of you may have noticed Rudi, Katelyn and I feverishly working on functional area reports the past few days. Our priority this week has been on determining the areas that we'd like to see in the revitalized library and writing a very brief synopsis on each that includes whether or not the space exists, how it will change if it does, the activities that are performed in the space, special requirements and occupancy at any one time. As you likely know, volunteer library school students and staff completed functional area reports for our present spaces last year.

Neglected Blog

My apologies for not posting yesterday. I remembered that I'd forgotten to do so about midnight but alas did not fling myself out of bed inspired to write.

I thought I'd begin this week with a report on the garage/bake sale. Approximately 6 teens and Alicia greeted potential buyers during the 4 hour sale which raised $448.30 for goods and $101.50 for books. A big thank you to Chris for all of his efforts in carrying off the leftovers and delivering them to "Keepers" and to each and every one of you who hauled in your wares and donated them to our cause.

I know that the smell of baking was cruel punishment especially to those in Administration but we found the baking part of the event to be very beneficial for a number of reasons. Some teens had never baked before and were unable to read a recipe. This gave them an opportunity to learn in a non-threatening environment. All of the teens felt a sense of ownership in the sale and were afforded the opportunity to actually work in the basement where their new lounge will be located.

Library Visitors

Katelyn just sent Rudi and I a list of current demographics and highlights compiled from her research to date and I thought I'd share one of the interesting tidbits with you dealing with ages of people who visit the library most frequently. This is her finding:

· Surprisingly, our research shows that the second largest population who visit the library currently is people aged 19 to 29. While not surprising, our research also demonstrates that people aged 70 and older consist of the largest population who visit the library currently.

I'll share more of her findings next week. I'm off tomorrow so blog posts will resume on Monday. Have a wonderful weekend and thank you again for your generous donations to our garage sale.