Site Visits, July 2016: Summary

I chose Semmes, Georgetown, and Munday because they were newly renovated or recently constructed.  I felt like these turned out to be really good choices, as the Semmes and Munday libraries were new enough that you could see where many of the “TEALS Criteria of Quality” had been addressed and the difference such measures can make.

My inclination in terms of library branding, as I have mentioned, is to brand our original building as “Classic” and our eventual branch as “21^st Century.” The original building would focus on recreational, cultural, research, and academic programs and services; while the eventual branch would have all of the things we haven’t been able to fit into the original building-- like a business center, a makerspace, classrooms, meeting rooms, AV production, plentiful public PCs, laptop stations, a “Genius Bar,” a gift shop, LAN gaming, console gaming, tabletop gaming, etc., with traditional materials limited to holds and bestsellers.

Programming at the eventual branch could be tailored to working families, favoring evenings and weekends instead of weekdays mornings and afternoons.  This would help us with the 20-30-year-old demographic, who are underrepresented as users of our current building. 

Under this dual vision, the Georgetown and Munday libraries serve us extremely well as examples, as Georgetown is so classic that their motto should be “old school and loving it,” while Munday is so cutting-edge that it feels like you travel a year into the future as soon as you walk inside. Ideas we can take from the Georgetown library include the abundant art, the extensive stacks, the mahogany tables and green-shaded brass desk lamps, the hushed study areas, the cozy nooks and crannies, and the signature concert series.

Ideas we can take from Munday include branded/sponsored spaces, audio and video production equipment and consulting, high-tech class/meeting rooms, rooms full of laptop stations, group and individual study rooms, equipment lending, minimalist décor, natural light, single service desk, uncluttered sightlines, sidelined stacks (very few books are visible on entry, and 95% are on second floor mezzanine and invisible from the entrance), and spaces so tailored to their purpose that they don’t even need to be labeled.